The Demon's Blessing
by ILoveThisStory2
Summary: One beating changes history. Trained by the Kyuubi, Anko and Kakashi at an early age, Naruto will rise to become a ninja the world has never before seen. Good Kyuubi, Fair Kakashi, Strong Naruto, Rinnegan Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura Bashing. Chapter 12 has been uploaded! Chapter summary: The Chunin Exams First Stage commences!
1. Prolouge: The Day that Changed History

**Hey all, ILoveThisStory2 with my new story, The Demon's Blessing.**

**In this story, Naruto awakens his bloodline, the Rinnegan, granted by Kyuubi at the age of 6 after being assaulted by a mob of ninja. Trained by the Kyuubi, as well as Anko and Kakashi, the Naruto world will never be the same.**

**Naruto is NOT dark in the story, but he does know demon attacks and the like.**

**Naruto will be very strong. He may even be considered godlike later on. But when he's facing Zabuza or Orochimaru, he'll have his ass handed to him only because of experience. They know how to fight; Naruto is strong, but he just kinda blows everything out of the way. He'll also be rather smart, because of both the Kyuubi and Kakashi teaching him.**

**Shout out to DevilKeys Writing for allowing me to use some of his stuff. Check out his story, Black Flames Dance in the Wind: Rise of Naruto. Pretty epic, if I do say so myself.**

**Here we go!**

Hate.

That one word was all Naruto Uzumaki, a mere six year old, experienced all his life. All of his memories were filled with hate directed at him. Even his birthdays were filled with it. Today was no different.

He never could understand why.

What he doesn't know is the reason why he was hated.

Six years ago to this day, the fearsome Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine Tailed Demonic Fox, made an assault on the Hidden Leaf Village. It destroyed many homes, killed many shinobi, and caused an unimaginable amount of terror and grief in the hearts of all of Konoha. Had it not been for the legendary Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash, the greatest man to ever grace the elemental nations, it would have wiped out Konoha.

The Fourth Hokage was not a legend for nothing.

He made his last stand on Gamabunta, the King of Toads, and in a heroic tale worthy of all heroic tales, he killed the demon. He sacrificed his life for his village.

But why was Naruto hated?

Perhaps it was because he shared his birthday with the date of the attack?

Why was he beaten everyday of his life?

Why had he been kicked out of the orphanage at age four?

What had he done to deserve the village's hate?

_'At least the old man is nice to me...' _the glum blond thought in a feeble attempt to cheer himself up. He was, of course, referring to the Third Hokage, the only person to acknowledge his existence in a positive manner.

The blond was currently wandering the empty streets of Konoha's eastern district. Normally, a large village such as Konoha would never be so empty. But it was October 10th. Naruto's birthday. The day the Kyuubi was defeated. The day the Yondaime died.

The day that would change the course of history forever.

He turned the corner to attempt to reach his apartment when he ran into a large male.

"Hey demon, watch where you're going!" he said. Naruto looked up into his face.

He was easily six feet six inches. He had a scarred face- one running horizantally across his forehead, one running down from the midpoint of his forehead, down his nose to the middle of his chin, and one on his right cheek. He had two brown eyes, with black hair that fell to his shoulders. He wore the typical Jonin outfit. Naruto realized that it was a Jonin- and one that could easily cause him harm.

None of it mattered to him. He was too busy thinking about his eyes.

Those cold, hate filled eyes.

_'Why do they all stare at me like that?' _he asked himself.

"I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't watching where I was going." he apologized. The man seemed as if he didn't hear him.

"You know what, you stupid demon? I've decided that you can' t exist here anymore. You're a threat to the peace that we work so hard to maintain. Your very existence is sickening. DIE!" he said while drawing a kunai in an attempt to slit Naruto's throat. The child, however, had developed fast reflexes from past assassination attempts. He ducked as it sailed over his head and sliced a part of his golden hair.

The boy ran back down the street, with the Jonin in hot pursuit. He turned into an alley he had used many times. He jumped on some boxes and leapt up to a fence, where he hopped onto a low lying building. The man didn't falter in his attempt to hurt the child. Instead, he merely used chakra to hop up the building.

Naruto ran as fast as he could, hopping from the occasional building to the next. Having been attacked so many times in his life, he had been able to develop the ability to jump from one building to the next. But the man he was trying to escape was a Jonin; he easily kept up with him.

A hail of shuriken from his right whizzed at him in an attempt to hurt, if not kill, the blond. The child suffered several cuts and one imbedded itself in his shoulder, but he kept running. He glanced back, to find that three Chunin had joined the Jonin in his chase. He groaned inwardly.

_'What did I do to deserve this? I'm only six! I haven't done anything wrong! I'm no demon, or monster! Why?' _he asked himself again. He dodged as a kunai knife came close to impaling him in the head.

He kept running and jumping until he reached the end of the row of buildings. Naruto jumped into the alleyway below, in yet another attempt to escape his pursurers.

That was his mistake.

As soon as he landed, he knew that he was screwed. His left ankle buckled under the momentum and landed the wrong way. Having shifted most of his weight onto that foot, which was in the wrong position to support it, Naruto fell as he heard a sickening _snap!_ Judging from the pain in his foot, he'd have to say that he broke his ankle.

He wanted to scream, but he'd felt worse.

The ninja caught up to him, sneering at the child.

"Well, demon. Look at you. You can't even stand." One Chunin said as he kicked Naruto in the head. The child was dazed by the impact and was ready to pass out, but before he could, he felt two things. One was blood escaping from his mouth. The other was a pill that he was forced to swallow.

Before he could ponder what was that pill, the Jonin picked him up by the neck and told him what the strange tablet was.

"Nuh-uh, monster. You're not going to get unconscious on my watch. That pill keeps the person who swallowed it conscious for two hours, no matter what happens. Feel the pain," the man said as he thrust a kunai into Naruto's gut. He gasped as he was then discarded like a broken tool- thrown aside into the wall. When he looked up at the sneering men, he couldn't help but ask.

"Why do you keep beating me? What have I done to deserve your hate?"

The Jonin looked at him in the eyes.

"You know what you did, you demon. You destroyed my home and killed my mother, cousin, and wife!" he responded.

"You nearly killed me and killed my girlfriend!" one Chunin exclaimed.

"My best friend was crippled because of you!" the second stated.

"And you killed my family!" the third Chunin said.

"Please...I haven't killed anybody..." Naruto said desperately.

"SHUT UP, DEMON! You know what you've done, and yet you walk around with that dumb-"

Kick to the head.

"-fucking-"

Stab in the arm.

"-goofy-ass-"

Kick in the stomach.

"GRIN!" the Jonin exclaimed while throwing Naruto into several trash cans. To his credit, the child did not cry out.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu," one Chunin said. Several fireballs pelted him and burned him all over.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet," the Jonin said. An dragon head formed from the earth and fired several mud bullets at Naruto. They all connected, breaking most of his bones.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu," one Chunin said while the second also did handsigns.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough," the second performed.

Not many things could rattle Naruto.

A giant ball of flames, greatly increased in power by a huge gust of wind, was one of them. Naruto watched with unconcealed horror as it flew directly at him.

Time stood still.

Everything but the fireball blacked out.

Then it, too, became nonexistent as he fell face first into sewer water.

* * *

><p>He laid there for a few seconds, not comprehending how he had reached the sewer. He decided, however, that he didn't like lying down in the water. He got up, and took a look at his surroundings. He was standing before a huge, two hundred foot cage. On the middle of the cage stood the kanji for 'seal.' Naruto, for the life of him, couldn't figure out why such a thing was there until the object it was containing appeared.<p>

Naruto first noted the giant claws, teeth and eyes that the beast had. It was a red shade, with evil red chakra coming off of it Nine bushy tails swung behind the animal. With a start, Naruto realized that it was a fox. That meant...

**"I see that you've figured it out, kit. I am the King of All Demons, the great Kyuubi no Yoko!" **it bellowed. The sound reverberated throughout the sewer, almost knocking Naruto off his feet. The Kyuubi noticed it and gave an amusing chuckle.

"Kyuubi? Why are you here? I thought that the Yondaime Hokage killed you!" Naruto frantically exclaimed. The Kyuubi gave a bellowing laugh in response.

**"Kit, I'm a being of pure chakra! I cannot be killed. I can, however, be sealed, which is what your Hokage did to defeat me. He sealed me within a newborn baby...you." **he explained. Naruto's blood ran cold at the revelation.

"So... I'm really a demon, aren't I?" he asked sadly. He understood why the villagers hated him know. He had caused them so much pain.

**"Kit, listen to me. You are not a demon; the villagers are just idiots. They don't know the difference between the sake and its bottle. They experienced a lot of pain the day I attacked...and they took it out on you. For what it's worth...I'm truly sorry." **the Kyuubi said. Naruto looked up in surprise.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked curiously.

**"Everything that happened in life to you was because of me. You don't deserve anything that's happening to you... and because of that, I apologize." **

"It's ok, I suppose...but why did you attack?"

**"That is a tale for when you're older. For now, though, you are in serious danger. Listen closely, kit.**

**"First off, I'm giving you the Rinnegan. Think of it as a gift for all the trouble you've went through. The Rinnegan is the most powerful doujutsu there is. It gives you control over every element there is, as well as control over gravity. **

**"Secondly, I'll be training you. You'll learn the Fox Style Taijutsu, which relies on speed and strength. You'll also learn how to do Fire jutsus. Plus, as a Dark being, you have a very strong Shadow alignment, so I'll be training you in using that as well.**

**"Finally, I want to strike a deal. For each year onward, you absorb a tails' worth of my chakra into your own. By 15, you'll have all my chakra, and at 16, you'll also have my intelligence. By age 30, I can leave your body, but you retain my chakra and intelligence, as well as everything that I've taught you, including the Shadow jutsus." **the fox said.

"I agree to the first two things, but I'm not letting you out. You'll just wreck havoc on everything."

**"That's not true. I didn't attack Konoha of my free will. My kits and mate were killed shortly before, and the place was litered in the smell of snakes and had Konoha headbands everywhere. On the way to your village to seek out who did the attack, I was captured in an extremely powerful Genjutsu placed on me by a Uchiha. After that, my memory is fuzzy, but I do know that I attacked your village."** Kyuubi said. Naruto was silent for a long time.

"I think...that I trust you. Fine, I agree to your terms. And if I find the people who killed your kits and mate, I'll kill them."

**"I think that I'm gonna like you, kit. But right now, we have more pressing matters. You're about to be hit by a fireball. I need you to give me control for a little while so that I can get you out of harm's way." **Kyuubi explained.

"Very well." Naruto stated before he came back to his senses. He felt the power rushing through hisbody. Time seemed to slow again as the fireball approached. His life danced before his eyes before he felt Kyuubi take control. He raised his arm, and with a resounding roar, he screamed:

**"SHINRA TENSEI!" **the fireball was instantly put out. The power left Naruto. The boy felt weaker and weaker. Darkness ensnared him, but not before two ANBU, Inu and Hebi, dropped down between him and his assailants. He smirked.

He would live to see another day.

* * *

><p>Kakashi sighed as he and Anko barged into the chambers where the council was meeting. He really didn't want to interrupt, but after coming across the scene that they had, there was little choice in doing so.<p>

"Kakashi, Anko. What are you doing here?" Sarutobi asked.

"Lord Hokage," Kakashi began. "There was an incident earlier today involving Naruto Uzumaki-"

"That little demon should be put down!" one council member screamed. Two ANBU memebers appeared after a hand signal by Sarutobi and took him away.

"Anyway, Kakashi, continue." Danzo said. Kakashi's eye narrowed for a slight second at the man. His sensei had told him tales of Danzo Shimura, and he didn't seem like the type of man Kakashi would like to work with.

"Anko and I were doing our regular patrol routine when we spotted Naruto running away from Hakei Takoeda, Jonin, as well as Ja Hea, Hitomi Nakada, and Yuashi Nomai, all Chunin. We followed the five to an alleyway, where Naruto fell and broke his left ankle.

"Hakei fed him a special pill designed to keep someone conscious after Hitomi had kicked him in the head. Hakei then proceeded to stab Naruto in the gut before throwing him into the side of a building. Hakei then kicked Naruto in head, stabbed him in the arm, and kicked him in the stomach. Hitomi used the Fire Style: Phoexnix Flower Jutsu on him, burning the child in multiple spots. Following that, Hakei used Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet on him, breaking several bones. And after that, Yuashi used Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu whie Ja used Wind Style: Great Breakthrough to incinerate him." Kakashi paused as Anko was preparing to take over.

"THE DEMO...BRAT DESERVES IT!" Sakuda Haruno, head of the Haruno family and member of the civilian council, said.

"What has he ever done to deserve this treatment?" asked Shikaku Nara, the head of the lazy Nara clan.

"HE'S THE REINCARNATION OF THAT MONSTER!" she screeched. Everyone flinched.

"He's a regular boy who has the Kyuubi trapped inside him. It was his fate." Hiashi Hyuuga added. He was the head of the famous Hyuuga clan.

"Sakuda, shut up." all the other clan heads stated before she could say anything else.

"Hey, this next part is very interesting!" Anko interrupted. Everyone sharply gazed at her, while she just grinned.

"The gaki then spaced out for a second before opening his eyes. They had changed into a small black pupil with one circle around it, like a ripple. Both the iris and sclera were a light purple color. Then he said some words- Shinra Tensei- and the fireball just disappeared!" she said. At this, the whole council broke into gasps and conversations. Sarutobi brought his hand up to stop the whisperings.

"Hiruzen," Sarutobi's long time teammate and advisor, Koharu Utatane, started. "Do you know of any such thing?" she asked.

Hiruzen nodded slowly in response. "That is what the Rinnegan looks like." he said, shocking Shikaku, Kakashi, Shibi, Fugaku, Hiashi, and the advisors. The others looked at him in confusion.

"The Rinnegan?" one merchant of the civilian council asked.

"The Rinnegan is the most powerful doujutsu ever to be discovered. The Rinnegan, Byakugan, and Sharingan make up the Three Great Doujutsu. It gives the user undisputed power over all five elements, as well as control over gravity, and allows the user to use six dead bodies to fight with him. Each body has a different ability. It is said that the user of the Rinnegan is either someone who will bring peace to the world, as the Rikudo Sennin did, or will destroy the world." Hiruzen said. Everyone was silent until the pink haired bitch started screaming once more-

"HE SHOULD BE MATED TO MY DAUGHTER!" This outburst then created a giant mess of things which proceeded to give the Hokage several tick marks.

"SHUT UP!" he roared using the infamous Big Head no Jutsu. _'I've got to thank Iruka for that,' _he thought as the chambers fell quiet.

"What is the extent of his injuries?" both Hiashi and Fugaku asked sincerely. They knew of Naruto' s heritage, and since they were both very close to his parents, were genuinely concerned for him. So much so that the only reason Naruto was not adopted was because both sides were too stubborn to give up in their pursuit for him.

"He suffered a broken ankle, a small fracture in the skull, three broken ribs, a fractured patella, two fractured ulnas, and several second degree burn marks covering his torso and legs." Kakashi reported. "He may or may not have a torn biceps."

Sarutobi sighed. "What happened of the four assailiants?"

"Hakei and Hitomi were killed during battle between us. Ja and Yuashi gave up and were sent to Ibiki." Anko said while manaically grinning.

"This meeting is adjourned." Sarutobi said with a sigh. The council filed out, leaving him alone with Kakashi and Anko.

"You guys don't know how much I appreciate this." he said. Anko shrugged while Kakashi gave no visible reaction. Sarutobi was sure, though, that he was eye smiling underneath his ANBU mask.

"It was our duty. Besides, we like this kid." Anko said while Kakashi nodded. Sarutobi sighed once more as he took a drag from his pipe.

"Kakashi, Anko, you two are to train Naruto-kun for the next seven years in everything you know. Kakashi, teach him how to use chakra and Ninjutsu. Anko, teach him how Taijutsu." he said. "Whatever else you see fit may also be thrown into the mix."

The two ANBU merely nodded and left. As Sarutobi turned to face his village, he couldn't help but think of Naruto.

He didn't know it at the time, but the history of Konoha would be forever changed through this one night.

**Aaaaaandddd cut!**

**So guys, what do you think of this new story so far? Good? Bad? Aight? **

**Drop a review telling me what you're thinking! Seriously guys, if you've read this chapter, leave a review.**

**Night folks!**

**Andrew OUT!**


	2. Chapter 1: The Genin Exams

**Sup guys, here's the first chapter of The Demon' s Blessing.**

**The last chappy was a prolouge; this starts with the whole graduation ordeal and stuff.**

**This is seven years in the future; keep in mind that if it seems that Naruto has way too much chakra, he has already absorbed seven tails' worth of chakra. Just keep that it mind. Let it sink in for a moment...**

**Alright, that's enough sinking in.**

**Kay guys, here we go.**

Naruto groaned as he turned in his bed once more. The alarm clock went off again...and again...and again. Finally, he decided that he couldn't take no more of it. He got out of his bed, turned the alarm off, and looked at the calender.

June 16.

_'Shit,'_ was the one word that summarized Naruto's thoughts. Today was the day of the Genin Exams! No wonder his alarm clock had been set. He was Naruto Uzumaki; he didn't give a flying fuck when he was late or not.

But he could never miss something as important to him as the Genin Exams.

He dashed across the room, bursting through his bathroom door as he did so. Before he hopped in, he created two clones.

"Akui, I need you to prep me a breakfast, ASAP." he said to the first one. He was Naruto's height of five feet three inches, with the signature golden spiky hair of Naruto's. Akui was clad in a blue shirt with an orange spiral on it. He wore black baggy pants and had googles on his head. Akui nodded before running off.

Naruto turned his attention to the female clone. "Metsui, I need you to clean up my apartment." he ordered her. She was at a height of five feet one inch, with two ponytails hanging on either side of her head. She wore an orange shirt with the Konoha symbol centered on it. She also wore the black baggy pants, but did not have the googles that Naruto or Akui had. Metsui nodded before turning and summoning a group of clones that looked like Naruto.

"Clean-Up Division, you know our duty." she said. They all nodded and sped off into the living room. Naruto sighed as he headed into his warm shower.

_'Having my own army is freaking awesome.' _he thought. _'These excess chakra seals that turn the chakra into clones are so awesome.' _

After taking a five minute shower, he ran out of the bathroom with his robe on. He quickly grabbed his black shirt with the kanji for "Leaf" on the front and "Strength" on the back, the black baggy pants that he wore, and his goggles before running back in. He ran back out merely a second later dressed. He stopped to grab his trench coat that he saw the Fourth Hokage wear in many pictures. The difference was that instead of being white with red flames, it was white with black flames- flames reminiscient of Amasterasu- licking the bottom. On the back, the words "Fifth Hokage" ran across it.

Naruto's dream was to be a Hokage better than the Fourth Hokage ever would be. And he would achieve it as soon as the old man retired. At least, that was his belief.

He sat down and quickly demolished the bacon and eggs that Akui had made before dispelling said clone. He turned to Metsui and the Clean-Up Division, to find that they too were done. He dispelled them as well before summoning three more clones.

The first clone was Naruto's height. He looked exactly like Naruto did in terms of features, but his hair was black instead of yellow. He wore a green shirt with the words "Bow down to me" written across it in big and orange letters. He wore the standart black baggy pants.

"Hyosuke, you and the Taijutsu Division meet on top of the Hokage Monument to practice the Fox Style and Emperor's Guard katas." he said. Hyosuke nodded and left via open window. Naruto turned to the female in the middle.

She was five feet four inches, with red hair that reached to her shoulders. She had the whiskers as all Naruto clones did. She wore a plain white shirt with the baggy pants. On her back was two identical blades; the standard tanto swords. Her waist had a katana on it.

"Anju, take the Kenjutsu Division to Training Ground 44 and head to the A-class section with Jake and the Ninjutsu Division. Your objective is to survive the day without losing a single member." Both she and the third clone, clad in the same clothes as Hyousake but with an orange shirt and green letters, nodded and disappeared in a shushin. Anju's shushin consisted of fire swirling around her before disappearing, while Jake's shushin was with the shadows of the apartment bending around him, swallowing him whole until he faded into nothingness. Naruto sighed.

"Shika, Lisa, come out." he sad to two more clones. Shika looked like Naruto without the trench coat, while Lisa was wearing Anju's clothes but looked like Metsui.

"Shika, you and the Tactics Division need to go off and make some formations. Lisa, you and the Torture and Interrogation Division have to go and practice in the ANBU headquarters. If anyone stops you, tell them that Ibiki and Anko called for you. And, if possible, find Kogeri and the Assassination Division and tell them that they can dispel." he said. Shika nodded and phased through the apartment's walls, while Lisa gave a 'Hai' before disappearing in a swirl of water.

Naruto looked at the alarm clock.

It read 8:55.

The Academy began in five minutes.

Naruto immediately ran out of the apartment, but not before activating the blood and chakra recognition seals. They wouldn't allow anyone but him to enter. He also activated the security and weapon seals, so that any intruder would be bombarded by a hail of weapons and Naruto would be alerted.

He took off down the streets, blasting by several groups of people who jumped as he scared the crap out of them. He mentally snorted.

_'Before, they treat me like shit. Now, because of my eyes, they worship the ground I walk on. Fucking hypocrites.' _he thought. Kyuubi chuckled.

**"Hey, being worshipped is better than being hated, isn't it?" **he asked.

_'True, but it's still sickening.' _he thought as his coat flew with the wind. He loved running this fast! The wind in his face, the scenery rushing by, the fast reflexes he had to have to dodge incoming traffic...it was so exhilarating!

Finally he reached the Academy. Knowing that he didn't have time to head up to the fourth floor, he channeled chakra to his legs and jumped towards the open window of his classroom. Soaring through the air was awesome, and he'd probably scare the crap out of Iruka. Sasuke would glare at him like the emo bitch he was, and everyone else that wasn' t staring at the Uchiha would be looking at him with either envy or amazement.

Iruka was sipping on his coffee, watching the class interact in what would be possibly their last class together. Kiba was making subtle advances on Hinata. Shino and Shikamaru were making light conversation. Chouji was eating out of his chip bag. Ino and Sakura were arguing over Sasuke, who was glaring at the chalkboard as if its very existence pissed him off to no ends. Everyone else was just making a ton of needless noise and confusion.

"If Naruto's late again, I'm gonna..." Iruka mumbled under his breath. Before he could finish his thoughts, however, he noticed a blur appear at the windowsill. Everyone else turned to it as well, to see Naruto sitting there without a care in the world.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei. I'm not late for the exams, am I?" he asked. Iruka glanced at the clock.

It had just struck 9:00.

"No Naruto, you just arrived in time. How did you get up here?" Iruka asked.

Naruto just looked at him. "I jumped." he stated plainly.

As he expected, Kiba and Sasuke scowled at him for showing off, while Shino, Shikamaru, and Chouji didn't even lift an eyebrow. Ino and about a third of the girls in the class instantly swooned over him, while Sakura and about a half of the other girls stared at Sasuke. The rest of the girls got into their Shikamaru fangirl club, something the lazy Nara accidentally received after the class heard of his IQ and saw him beat Sasuke in a battle. And Hinata glanced at him every few seconds or so before looking away with a blush, something that Naruto noted in the very back of his mind.

"Teach me how to do that, dobe." Sasuke demanded. Naruto looked at him in the eye.

"Nope." he said. Sasuke growled.

"You will teach me!"

Naruto merely shook his head in response. "Learn it yourself, Uchiha. Just because your precious Sharingan resides within you does not make you automatically better than me; for if you did your studies, you'd know that of the three great doujutsu, the Rinnegan- the doujutsu I have, not you- is naturally the strongest. So sit the fuck down, shut the fuck up, and prepare your limp dicked ass to take the exams." he stated. Sasuke growled, but Sakura was the first to make a move.

"DON'T TALK ABOUT SASUKE-KUN LIKE THAT, NARUTO-BAKA!" she screamed as she attempted to hit the boy. Unfortunately for her, Naruto was still perched in the window. He merely leaned back as the blow passed over him. He then used his legs like a scissor to pin Sakura, and with pure leg strength, threw Sakura out the window. He did a backflip and grabbed ahold of the windowsill, and pulled himself back in.

"She'll be back in a little bit, Iruka-sensei. And before you go and scold me for doing that, if she can't survive that fall without damage, then she doesn't deserve to be a ninja." he stated. Iruka opened his mouth in response, but then realized that Naruto was right. Even a Genin should have the skills to land properly; if she didn't, then she'd prove herself to be all booksmarts but absolutely unskillful.

Naruto decided to take a seat to the right of the Uchiha, where the pink haired harpee had been sitting. The Uchiha gave him a passing glance and scowled but said nothing. Naruto smirked. He certainly put the bitch back in his place, or so he thought.

As the class waited for Sakura to get her ass back to the room, Naruto noticed several pairs of eyeballs focused on him. He turned to meet all the looks. Instantly over half of the people staring at him looked away. Naruto grinned at those who still had the guts to stare at him. Personally, he thought that having guts was a huge factor in being a ninja.

He first met the gaze of Kiba Inuzuka, the heir of the Inuzuka clan. Naruto decided that Kiba was good at Taijutsu, but not really at anything other than that. He might be a ninja, but Naurto really wasn't sure. They were friends, not the best of friends, but they tolerated each other. Naruto didn't like that Kiba glared at him for talking to Hinata or outdoing him at something. Kiba, though unknown to the class, didn't like him mainly because that he was the object of the girl of his dreams.

He then turned to Shino Aburame, a good friend of his. Shino was the heir of the Aburame clan; as all Aburames were, he was silent and intellectual. He felt that he and Shino had a somewhat special bond; Naruto was ostracized by something out of his control, while Shino was ostracized by something that had nothing to do with him. When he could get the stoic person to talk, they'd have a nice conversation. Naruto didn't mind being in silence with him, either; for unlike many his age, he found his time with Shino rather companionable than creepy.

Naruto tore his eyes from Shino and turned to Shikamaru, one of his best friends in the Academy. Heir of the Nara clan, Shikamaru was the laziest person Naruto knew, but also the smartest. The two had many fun times with each other; when Naruto felt the urge to go on a prank, Shikamaru was the first person he'd contact. Shikamaru, in turn, found someone who understood his passion for watching clouds and gave him a good match in shogi. Naruto's head of the Tactics Division, Shika, was even named after Shikamaru, a tactical genius by all means.

Fourth on the list was Chouji Akamichi, also a good friend of Naruto. He was Shikamaru's best friend, heir to the Akamichi clan and someone Naruto could share his ramen obsession with. Chouji was big-boned, but Naruto knew better than to call him fat. Chouji was also someone with whom he could prank or hang out with. Chouji even went so far as to offer a bag of chips to Naruto- which, to any Akamichi, was a symbol of trust and friendship.

Finally, he came to Hinata Hyuuga, heiress of the Hyuuga clan and a straight man's wet dream. She was, in Naruto's description once when she had found him half dead from chakra exhaustion, an "angel from heaven." She had nice hair, a pretty face, a perfect body, a nice personality...Naruto felt that he could go on and on. But, she would shy away from Naruto, who took it as she didn't like him/was afraid of him. Therefore, even though the two would make a perfect couple- with Naruto's rather fierce and caring personality to Hinata's shy and loving one- they were not boyfriend and girlfriend.

These five were basically Naruto's best friends in the Academy, even though Kiba and him had some rough patches and Hinata and him barely interacted. That aside, the group of six were really close.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Naruto asked to the five who were grouped together.

"Nothing much, just getting ready to ace this exam." Kiba said confidently, borderline arrogantly.

"Big words, Inuzuka. Can you back that up?" he retorted. Shikamaru groaned.

"This whole test is troublesome...this is such a drag." he said rather sleepily.

"Shikamaru, everything is a drag to you." Chouji replied before stuffing his face once more with goods.

"Naruto, how do you think that we'll all do?" Shino asked. He had experience with Naruto's predicting abilities; they were good, very much so.

"Hmm...I'll probably finish first, depending on how hard I decide I want to work and how hard the Uchiha actually tries. You, Shino, can come in either third, fourth or fifth; you and Shikamaru are pretty even, and since you guys occasionally take Taijutsu lessons with me, your Taijutsu is way better than one of your clansmen. Shikamaru, if you put effort in it, you can make it to third place, but you'll be no lower than fifth, since your mom won't take that from you. Hinata should easily be the top kunoichi, and could make it to the fifth spot overall if you gave it your all. Chouji can take sixth or seventh, and Kiba should be that other spot. After that, everyone else falls in place. I'm confident that we'll all make it through, though." he said to give everyone extra confidence. He didn't want his best buddies to fail, of course!

After some more meaningless conversation, Sakura finally made it back up to the room. Iruka motioned her to an empty seat before usign the Scary Head no Jutsu to settle the class.

"Alright, now that Sakura's here we can commence with the test. The test is divided into five parts. The first part, which we take now, is a written exam. You have twenty minutes to answer these ten questions based on Konoha history." he said while handing the tests around. Naruto snorted. He took his village's history in pride, so he should take this part easily.

"Begin," he said as everyone got to working.

_1. Who was the First Hokage?_

Naruto scribbled down Hashirama Senju.

_2. What was the Second Hokage's relation to the First Hokage?_

Naruto said that they were brothers.

_3. Why was the Fourth Hokage also known as the Yellow Flash?_

Naruto said that because of his Thunder Flying God Technique, the Hirashin no Jutsu, with which he could obliterate entire armies in a single, yellow flash.

_4. What was the greatest disaster to befall Konoha?_

He snorted before writing down the Kyuubi's attack. This test was way too easy.

_5. Name the Three Legendary Sannin and their jonin sensei._

Naruto wrote Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin; Tsunade, the Slug Sannin; Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin; and Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.

_6. Who is Kakashi Hatake?_

Naruto wrote down that Kakashi was a Jonin of Konoha who was world renowned for using his Sharingan to master over 1000 jutsu (at this, he mentally frowned since there weren't even that many in the world).

_7. Name the major clans of Konoha._

Hyuuga, Uchiha, Aburame, Akamichi, Nara, Yamanaka, and Inuzuka.

_8. Who is responsible for the Uchiha Massacre?_

Itachi Uchiha

_9. What is Training Ground 44 known as?_

The Forest of Death.

_10. What is the ANBU?_

The ANBU are a highly trained group of shinobi that take on the most dangerous of missions. They answer only to the Hokage and those in ANBU above them.

Naruto grinned as he dropped his pencil. From the looks of it, he was the second done in five minutes. Sakura, of course, was first, because she was nothing but a textbook anyway.

After the twenty minutes was up, Iruka turned to them. "Next up is your throwing ability. We'll head outside to do this test. Class, get in a single file line and follow me to the throwing grounds."

The class settled into the standard single file line, with Shino in the front and Ino in the back. Apparently, they were lined by their last names, which is why Naruto groaned. His last name of Uzumaki was, after all, second to last on the list. He figured that he'd somewhat pay attention.

"Class, this test is simple. You have five kunai to hit a dummy from 20 feet away, and then five shuriken to hit another dummy from 20 feet away. The process repeats except that it will increase from 20 feet to 30 feet. Vital areas are 5 points, while everywhere else is 1 point. Missing the target is a subtraction of 3 points. Shino, you're up first." Iruka explained. The Aburame nodded and went up.

Naruto watched with interest as Shino connected on all five of his kunai from 20 feet, with one in the neck, one in between the eyes, one in the forehead, one in the lung, and one that stuck out of his arm. The shuriken went slightly worse, with two in the neck, one in the stomach, one to the heart, and one that grazed the head but missed. From 30 feet, Shino actually did better; one kunai went in the heart, one to the left lung, one to the right lung, one in the forehead, and one in the neck. The shuriken also did better; two hit the heart, one in the right lung, one in between the eyes, and one that struck his forehead. Iruka nodded while scribbling furiously.

"Alright, so that was four to the neck, two in between the eyes, three to the forehead, four to the heart, four in the lungs, and since that was all vital areas, that turns into an 85. The one in the stomach was three points, since it's a fifty-fifty chance that the person lives or dies. There was one in the arm, so that brings you to an 89, but since you missed a shuriken, your final score is an 86. Chouji, step up if you will."

Chouji did worse than the Aburame, with one kunai to the neck, one to the heart, two in the stomach, and one that missed. The shuriken ended up with one in the neck, one in the forehead, one in the arm, one in the leg, and one that missed. From thirty yards out, three kunai went to the stomach, while one found a lung and one missed. With the shuriken, one found the neck, one hit the forehead, one hit the heart, and two missed.

"Chouji, that translates to a fourty two. " And so it went on. Hinata ended up with a 86. Kiba found himself with a 72. Shikamaru managed a 59, which was expected, as the Nara didn't have all that good an aim. Finally, Sasuke came up, and managed a 97, only missing a shuriken from thirty feet out.

"Beat that, dobe." Sasuke taunted as Naruto stepped up. Without so much as taking a glance, two kunai hit the neck and three to the head, one in each eye and one to the forehead. One shuriken to both lungs, one to the heart, one in the heck, and one forehead finished up the twenty footers. Naruto then nailed all five kunai in the head. With the shuriken, he decided to show off.

Flicking one to the neck, he coated it with wind chakra that decapitated the dummy. A flaming shuriken struck the man's left lung, while one covered in lightning hit the right lung. A shuriken that found the man's heart instantly caused the straw to cave in, signaling that it was covered with earth chakra. And a kunai with a water cloak struck the body's stomach. The area became wet as the kunai punctured the dummy.

Iruka stood speechless, as did all the other teachers and students. Even Sasuke's mind shut down for a moment at the display. As if it were a hidden signal, all the minds rebooted at once. Despite this, however, Iruka is the first to regain his sppech abilities.

"Naruto...these scores...they haven't been seen since the Fourth Hokage took this test. Amazing! You scored a 200, because using elemental chakra while throwing is an automatic extra 20 points. Itachi Uchiha scored a 140, Kakashi Hatake scored a 140, but this ties with the highest score set by the Yondaime Hokage." he sttutered out. Naruto nodded lazily, as if he did stuff like that every day, which, knowing him, he probably did.

After a few minutes of sitting there, Ino completed the portion of the test with a 64, something she gloated nonstop to Sakura, who only got a 57, one of the worst grades.

They went farther over to the grounds they reserved for Taijutsu sparring.

Iruka turned to his class once more. "Ok, so the third part is the Taijutsu exam. In this part, two competitors will enter the ring. They will spar using nothing but Taijutsu. The one to be knocked out of the ring or forced to surrender will lose 10 points, while the one who wins gets an extra 10 points. It is suggested that you use the Academy style Taijutsu, but other forms are okay as well. First off, Shino Aburame and Chouji Akamichi."

The two boys headed into the ring. After about three minutes of sparring, Chouji eventually won. Shino was faster by far, but Chouji managed to get one powerful blow that knocked the Aburame out of the ring. Chouji settled with a 89, while Shino received a 78.

After some more battles, Sakura and Hinata took to the ring. The match was over as soon as it started. Sakura threw a sloppy punch at Hinata, who sidestepped and shoved her into Hinata's waiting foot. Sakura tripped and fell out of the ring. Iruka shook his head.

"Hinata, that's a perfect 110, while Sakura gets a 43 for...effort and...uh, throwing a punch." Iruka said, reading the results Mizuki gave him. Honestly, he believed that Sakura deserved a zero, but since Mizuki was proctoring this part of the exam, he couldn't argue.

Kiba thrashed some civilian kid pretty easily, earning him a 106 for both speed and strength. Shikamaru did surprisingly well, earning a win against some other kid and receiving a 96. Finally, Naruto and Sasuke took to the ring.

"Kich the baka's butt, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered as the Uchiha settled into the Uchiha clan's stance.

"Go, Naruto-kun!" Ino and, though much quieter, Hinata, said as Naruto settled into the Emperor's Guard Stance. It consisted of Naruto holding his right hand out in a claw like fashion, with the left hand off to its side and behind it. His right foot was also put in front of the left foot in the same fashion as his hands.

"Begin" Mizuki said as he leapt out of the ten foot ring. The two stood for a long time, not moving a single muscle. They wait for the other to make a move.

Finally, Sasuke cannot stand the wait and decides to taunt Naruto in the hopes of making him move.

"What's the matter dobe? Are you scared of facing me?" he asked. Naruto shook his head.

"Nope, but you are too weak to even go full out on, so I'm just going to use my weakest style. That should be enough for you." he stated. Sasuke growled and charged Naruto.

He began with a right fist to the face. Naruto deflects the punch away and blocks the spinning kick from the right foot with his forearm. Sasuke then forces himself to jump over Naruto, trying to kick him on the way. Naruto blocks the attack with his forearm and pushes Sasuke away.

Sasuke lands rather neatly and comes at him again, with a knee to the gut. Naruto blocks with his right hand. Sasuke launches a left hook to the face of Naruto, who grabbed it and tossed Sasuke over his shoulder. The boy lands about a foot in front of the line, before Naruto appeared and launched a really hard punch- it was with inhumane strength, something that Sasuke noted as he landed.

"That's not fair! He cheated. That last punch was inhumanly strong, which meant that he used chakra to enhance it." He stated. Naruto intervened, seeing as how he was the one in question.

"No, that wasn't chakra, but rather your energy plus mine. The Emperor's Guard style is a defensive styled Taijutsu stance where the user absorbs the energy from the opponent's blows and redirects at them. That's why I stayed on the defensive most of the time. Furthermore, even if I did use chakra, it would have counted as Taijutsu anyway because I did not use a Ninjutsu or Genjutsu." Sasuke growled.

"Teach me that style, dobe." he demanded.

"Why? I thought that the Uchihas were better than everything, so why would you need to learn a style underneath your Uchiha stance?" he questioned. To everyone's shock, the reasoning actually went through to Sasuke, who paused.

"You know what, dobe? You're right." he stated before walking away. Naruto received a 110, while Sasuke received a 90. The class then proceeded to move away from the training ground and over to the forest.

"Next up is the Genjutsu portion. You must dispel a Genjutsu we place on you as fast as you can. Under 10 seconds is a perfect 100, under 20 is a 90, and so on and so forth."

Shino received a 100 after dispelling the illusion three seconds in. Chouji had a harder time, but still hit a 100 after seven seconds. Sakura received a 100 only because thanks to her childish reserves, her chakra control was good and that made it easy to dispel a Genjutsu. Hinata received a 100 thanks to the Hyuuga's ability to see through Genjutsu and dispel it easily. Kiba got a 90 after taking about eleven seconds to dispel it, while Shikamaru got a one hundred after a five second gap. Finally, Sasuke, Naruto and Ino all received a one hundred, with Naruto being able to dispel the Genjutsu in a second, Sasuke in three seconds, and Ino in eight seconds.

Finally, they went back into their Academy classroom for the final portion of the exam.

"Ok guys, this last part is the Ninjutsu part. You have to perform the Henge **(Transformation)**, Kawamiri **(Substitution)**, and Bunshin no Jutsu **(Clone Technique)** to pass. For the Bunshin, you have to produce at least two clones. If you want, you can perform a jutsu from outside of the Academy for extra credit." Iruka explained. "Shino, you're first."

The Aburame walked in and out several moments later with the headband. Chouji, Sakura (surprisingly), Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Sasuke did the same. Finally came Naruto's turn.

"Alright Naruto, first is-" Iruka began. However, Mizuki appeared eager to start, as he launched a handful of shuriken at Naruto before Iruka could even start. He substituted with a chair off to the side of the room. He quickly then turned into a carbon copy of the Fourth Hokage (which he already is, except with whiskers) using the Henge, before turning back into himself. He then created four perfect clones, and then used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to fill the room with clones of himself. As Iruka hit one, it dispelled, showing him that it was indeed a different jutsu from the one that the Academy teaches.

"Congratulations Naruto, you pass with flying colors!" he congratulated as Naruto grabbed a haead band and tied it to his forehead. He gave a smile at Iruka and left the room.

Outside, he met Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru and Chouji.

"Hey look, it's Naruto!" Kiba said as they turned to see their classmate and now comrade.

"Was there any doubt that i was going to fail?" Naruto asked while smirking. Everyone else smile back.

"Alright guys, we're celebrating. Let's get something to eat." Naruto stated. Eventually, after an argument between Chouji and Naruto, the six decided to head to Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto's favorite place.

He recalled the place when it was just a measly stand could only serve about five people at once. However, after Naruto gained his Rinnegan, word got out that the stand was his favorite spot to eat. The business at Ichiraku picked up tremendously afterwards, and seven years later, it was one of the premier restuarants in Konoha. It was about the size of a small apartment building, with several floors and several waiters and cooks. The first floor was breakfast food, the second served lunch, and the third served dinner. Each floor had about 20 tables, with one table with one chair, one with two, and so on and so forth.

Naruto and his friends entered the restuarant and headed up to the second floor, where a waiter met them.

"We'd like a table for six." Naruto said as the waiter took down their names. He directed Naruto and the rest of the crew to a table near a huge window. It gave off a nice view of the western district of Konoha. Naruto slid into the corner with Hinata next to him and Kiba next to her. Shino sat across from him, with Shikamaru in the middle and Chouji at the end.

The waiter came up to them once more. "What are your orders?"

"I'll have three large bowls of pork ramen to start, please." Naruto said.

"I'll have three large bowls of miso ramen." Chouji stated.

"I'll have some Asian sesame noodles with ginger-scented chicken." Shino stated.

"I'd like to order a medium bowl of shrimp ramen," Kiba said.

"Troublesome...can I have some tuna maki?" Shikamaru asked.

"A-ano...I'll h-have a small bowl of vegetable r-ramen, p-please." Hinata stammered out. The waiter nodded and left to hand the order off to Teuchi, the head cook of the lunch menu.

"So guys, how'd your Ninjutsu test go?" Naruto asked, kickstarting a conversation.

"Well, I did all three Academy jutsu and then used my bugs to make a bug clone." Shino stated.

"I did the jutsu and then used my Partial Expansion." Chouji continued.

"I did all three jutsu but didn't get any extra credit." Hinata said without stuttering, much to everyone's shock.

"Yawn...all three jutsu and then Shadow Possession." Shikamaru stated.

"I did all three and then used the Head Hunter Jutsu on Mizuki." Kiba said. Naruto and Shikamaru snickered.

"So that was why he was covered in dirt." they managed to say while all the others just looked at them. After a few second or so, they managed to calm themselves.

"Oh, I did all three and then used the Shadow Clone Jutsu." Naruto stated after realizing that he never told them what he did. At that point, the food had arrived. As they ate, they made pointless talk about what was going on in their life, how they were doing in their training, and even managed to make a day that Naruto would take them somewhere special. As they ate and talked, Naruto gave off a true smile, which everyone else noted and did as well. They understood that they would alway have one another's back, no matter what. They were friends, and that's what they did.

Finally, after all else finished, a ramen eating contest took place between Chouji and Naruto. Naruto managed to pull away with the win, triumphing over Chouji's thirteen bowls with his fifteen. Afterwards, they left but still stayed together.

"Race you to the hill." Kiba said as he ran off. Everyone else smirked and ran off after him. It was a tradition that after anything they all did together, they would make it to a hill and lay there, watching the clouds and the sunset.

Naruto made it first, with Kiba coming in second even with his head start. Shikamaru and Shino arrived at the same time, with Hinata following them. Chouji, naturally, was the last to arrive. The six plopped down under the lone tree that stood on the hill, laying in a circle with not a care in the world. A few words were exchanged, but one didn't need to hear the conversation to understand that they were close.

Finally, after a few hours of that, the sun set and it became night time. They all stood.

"Oh! Guys, we have to meet at the Academy at eight thirty tomorrow to find out our teams." Naruto said, rememebering something Iruka had told him as he was leaving. The others nodded and were about to leave, but they spotted a figure run away, with a bundle in his arms. A few seconds later, the Hokage's voice rang out over the village.

"All available ninja, the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing has been stolen! Spread out and find it before it gets away!" the voice boomed. The six looked at each other, before looking at the way the stranger had left.

"You don't think..." Shikamaru said with widened eyes.

"It doesn't matter, it's a chance we'll have to take. Let's go guys." Naruto said as he leapt off after the culprit. The other five quickly followed him.

"Hinata, can you see him?" Naruto called out as they leapt through the thick foliage that was the forest that lies on the outside of Konoha. A strange feeling of thrill was in all their bodies; they were in a virtual state of lockdown, and they were outside the village for the first time in their lives. It was only their first day on their job, and yet they were here chasing after someone who might've stolen the scroll.

"Hai, Naruto. He's still running away from us, but we're catching up to him. If we continue like this, we should catch him in under five minutes." Hinata stated. Her stutter had dissolved completely in the time of emergency.

"Kiba, do you have any scent that might identify the thief?" Naruto asked to the person traveling next to him. Kiba sniiffed the air.

"He has a distinct smell of snakes...but he also smells like Mizuki-sensei!" he exclaimed. Everyone's eyes widened at the revelation.

"That can't be..." Chouji said.

"A few bugs have caught up to him, and they identify the chakra as belonging to Mizuki-sensei as well." Shino informed them.

"But why would he..." Hinata murmured.

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed, feeling stupid. "He's stolen the scroll for Orochimaru!"

Everyone gasped, Shino and Shikamaru more so because they understood why.

"How?" Kiba asked. "How did you come to this conclusion?"

"Remember back a few months ago, when Mizuki-sensei was absent for a week? Iruka-sensei told us that he was on a mission to the Land of Rice. According to rumors, the new village over there, called Oto, was created and ruled by Orochimaru." Naruto chattered off quickly.

"Plus, my bugs that are working on draining his chakra are picking up on a much fouler chakra as well, coming from his neck." Shino stated. Kiba's eyes narrowed.

"Now that you mention it, I remember that there was a strange marking on his neck as well. It was black and kinda looked like what the Sharingan should have when it fully matures." he said. Shikamaru shook his head.

"So he went to the Land of Rice completely unharmed, and came back with a marking on his neck and smelling of snakes. The marking sounds like the Cursed Seal that we learned about. It was, after all, created by Orochimaru. So if he went to Oto, it would've been the perfect chance to get the seal from him. And if he came back smelling like snakes, it suggest that..." he said.

"He's been dealing with Orochimaru." Naruto said. "And that explains why he stole the scroll."

"Care to elaborate?" Chouji asked, who now understood who Mizuki was really working for, but not why the scroll has anything to do with it.

"Think about it. Orochimaru doesn't just give away the markings for free. He expects something in return. Mizuki must be giving him the scroll." Shikamaru stated.

"Why the scroll, though?" Hinata asked.

"The scroll is full of powerful jutsu and seals that can make the wielder significantly more powerful. Orochimaru's life ambition is to avoid death and try to learn every jutsu that exists. He's probably banking that there's a way to get immortal in the scroll, and even if there isn't, then he gets jutsu out of it and Konoha loses them. It's a win-win situation for him, unless we can get the scroll back." Naruto stated. Shino nodded.

"But I can't shake the feeling that there is an underlying ambition in this..." he said.

"There can be a number of reasons. He can be searching for a way to find immortality, to unseal the Kyuubi, or maybe he's planning to use some jutsu he finds in an attack against Konoha. However, we don't have any proof right now. All we can go on is that Mizuki-sensei is stealing the scroll, most likely for Orochimaru." Naruto replied. All of his friends nodded, not freaking out about the Kyuubi situation because they knew that Naruto held him in. They even met him once, and they had to say that he was quite friendly.

Finally, they caught up to the culprit. "So, it's you kids, huh." he said with a chuckle.

"Give it up, Mizuki. You can't win. Hand over the scroll and surrender peacefully, and you might live through this ordeal." Naruto stated. To confirm their suspicion, Mizuki stepped out into the light, with the scroll in his arms.

"You six don't stand a snowball's chance in Hell against me." Mizuki sneered as he put the scroll down. He quickly made hand signs as well.

"Earth Style: Mud Dragon Bullet," he proclaimed as a dragon head rose from the ground next to him and launched several mud balls at them. They quickly scattered away from the attack.

"Partial Expansion Jutsu," Chouji said as his hands increased to the size of Naruto's body. he swung at Mizuki, who jumped to launch himself out of the way. Unfortunately, the group of six had planned it out so they were glad that he did so. A group of bugs swarmed the scroll and flew back to Shino, who grabbed hold of it.

"Tunneling Fang," Kiba said as he flew through the air at Mizuki. Without anyway to dodge and forgetting about the Substitution Jutsu, Mizuki was hit by Kiba, though he had crossed his arms in front of him to block the attack. The impact and energy behind the attack blew Mizuki at Chouji, who grabbed him. Shino's bugs swarmed him, eating him of all his chakra. As they flew off, Naruto approached him, ready to put his part into play, when suddenly Chouji yelped and dropped him. Mizuki stood up, with purple chakra flowing visibly from him. The Cursed Seal was spreading over his body.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Take this! Earth Style: Multi-Mud Dragon Bullet!" he said as two dragons of earth shot mud bullets everywhere.

"Shinra Tensei." Naruto stated as they were all repelled from him and his friends. Mizuki was also thrown through the air, straight to Hinata.

"8 Trigrams: 2 Palms!" she said as she closed two tenketsu, stopping the chakra flow.

"4 Palms!" she said, closing the next four.

"8 Palms! 16 Palms! 32 Palms! Eight Trigrams, 64 Palms!" she called out as her hands moved in a blur. With each strike, she closed off one tenketsu after another until finally, with a palm to the heart, she sent him flying back to Shikamaru, who finished his hand seals.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu," he said as Mizuki landed on his feet. As Shikamaru's shadow connected with Mizuki's, he was kept in place. Naruto used the opportunity to go for the jutsu that he was going for earlier.

"Soul Removal!" he stated while holding his hand on Mizuki's head. As he pulled upward, a spirit was removed from Mizuki's body. With a silent scream, Mizuki slumped over, dead. Naruto nodded as the ANBU appeared.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Chouji Akamichi, and Shikamaru Nara, the Hokage wishes for your presence. Mizuki's body will be taken to the Research Division for analysis." the ANBU commander said as two others picked up the body and shushined away. The commander and the other ANBU member escorted the six Genin back into the village.

Sarutobi rubbed his head as he listened to Naruto and his friends tell their tale. He was definitely too old to be dealing with this shit.

"So let me get this straight. You guys celebrated graduating by going to Ichiraku and then hanging out on the hill, where you noticed a figure running off with a bundle. Hearing my command, you six went after him and figured out that Mizuki was betraying the village and working for Orochimaru. You six then used teammwork to incapacitate and ultimately kill Mizuki and retrieve the scroll." He recapped as the six nodded silently. He sighed.

"This has become an A-ranked mission for all of you. You each will receive 50,000 ryo for your efforts. Come back tomorrow at two in the afternoon to pick up the money." he stated.

"Hai." The six replied.

"By the way, your parents were alerted to your actions, and..." Sarutobi stated as his door slammed open to reveal Tsume. Following her, Shibi, Chouza, Shikaku and Hiashi all strode over to their children.

"I heard what you did Kiba. Good job using the Passing Fang!" Tsume said as Kiba blushed under his mom's praise.

"Nice work." Shibi said to Shino, who nodded.

"Good job, son! We'll celebrate by going out to the BBQ restaurant tomorrow!" Chouza said to Chouji while providing him with another bag of chips.

"Good work, Shikamaru." Shikaku said to Shikamaru, who mumbled "Troublesome" under his breath.

Hinata stared at Hiashi, who stared right back. To her joy, he gave her a nod, signaling a job well done. Overwhelmed with joy, she jumped onto Hiashi in a flying hug. Though he doesn't react, Naruto saw that he was trying his damn best not to smile.

"You're all dismissed." Sarutobi said as the eleven disappeared. He sighed and turned to the last paper on his desk.

"Looks like I'll have to change the team arrangements." Sarutobi stated as he erased a few names and moved them around.

**Cut! **

**So guys, there be the first chapter of The Demon's Blessing. Review!**

**Yes, the teams are changed. They won't be the same as the canon, so therefore, the missions and everything else will change as well.**

**Alright guys, I'm signing off. Review!**

**Andrew out!**


	3. Chapter 2: The Shadow Realm

**Hey guys, I'm back with the next chapter of The Demon's Blessing.**

**I like the feedback I'm getting from you guys! Please, keep it up!**

**Not much else to say, so here's the next chapter.**

Naruto sat up in his bed once more. A glance at his clock revealed it to only be six thirty in the morning. He summoned Akui once more to make him breakfast, and summoned back all of his clone commanders once more. He took a look at the six clones before him.

Along with Hyosuke, Anju, Jake, Shika, and Lisa, a sixth clone, a girl, stood besides them. At the height of five feet, Kogeri was a stunning beauty; a perfectly heart-shaped face, nice legs, DD-cupped breasts, and a nice, plump ass. In her left pouch, Naruto saw several throwing knives- her weapon of assassination- sticking out. On her right hip, a small dagger lay concealed underneath her arm. She wore a blue, long sleeved shirt with the word "Sexy" in between her cleavage, and, shockingly, black skinny jeans that showed off her ass. Naruto also knew that she had several smoke bombs, as well as a hidden poisoned blade on her.

"Hyosuke, meet on the Hokage Monument to practice the Strong Fist style, and learn how to effectively counter the Gentle Fist, in the case that I fight a Hyuga." Hyosuke nodded and disappeared in a small tornado.

"Anju, Jake, Forest of Death, S-class sector." The two clone commanders glanced at each other; it was, after all, the first time that they would be in that portion of the forest. They then nodded, albeit a little hesitantly, and disappeared in twin flashes of lightning.

"Shika, the Tactics Division is on standby for now." Shika nodded and puffed into smoke, retreating back into Naruto's mind.

"Lisa, Torture and Interrogation will practice on Koru Jodi, a male I found trying to break into my apartment." Lisa nodded and sunk into the ground, having searched Naruto's memories to know where to find him.

"Kogeri, you have a special assassination today. Your targets are…" Naruto said before handing over the two pictures. "If you want to go flashy, do so." Kogeri gave a silent nod before sinking into the shadows.

After showering and eating, Naruto found out that he still had a whole hour and a half before the Academy's team selection actually began.

"**Shadow Realm**?" **Kyuubi asked with glee.

'_Shadow Realm**.' _Naruto replied while stepping into a shadow portal.

* * *

><p>Naruto landed on his feet feeling the familiar black sand of the world. He looked around to see where he had landed, to find that he was in front of his castle.<p>

"Hmm…I should pump up the security…" Naruto said.

"**You really should." **Kyuubi stated, walking up beside him in human form.

Naruto had learned long ago that the Shadow Realm only admitted one being per body. As the Kyuubi was trapped within Naruto with the strongest seal known to man, neither had imagined that the Shadow Realm's creator, Shi no Kage (Shadow of Death) would actually have the power to separate them upon entrance to the realm of shadows. Kyuubi had to make a body every time they entered the realm, which is why he was excited because in his mind, he could barely stretch his legs, much less destroy or kill something every once in a while.

In the Shadow Realm, it would be impossible NOT to destroy or kill something.

True to Naruto's thoughts, a thirty foot Cyclops with a ten foot long spiked club appeared from the forest off to the south. Behind him, several thousand wolves followed him at his heels. They were midnight black, with glowing red eyes and slobbering mouths hanging open, ready to devour their pray.

"**Hmm…a thirty foot tall Cyclops AND ten thousand Beastial Wolves… I'd say that you'd need my help, Kakashi of the Sharingan, the Yellow Flash, and the Sanin to defeat them all." **Kyuubi listed. Naruto shrugged.

"Nah…I know who's going to help." And with that, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Chouji and Shikamaru were all deposited on the floor.

"**WHAT THE FUCK!" **Shino screamed in a demonic voice.

Naruto could see he wasn't much of a morning person.

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong…with…you…" Shikamaru trailed off, having noticed the beasts coming at them. All the others followed his gaze and saw the thousands upon thousands of wolves charging at them, and the giant Cyclops.

"Yeah…remember when I said I'd show you a special place? This is the Shadow Realm, where evil monsters exist solely to kill you. Now, I'd suggest you get moving. You're all at level 1 in the Shadow Realm, and to advance you need to kill these demons. A wolf is worth fifty experience points; a thirty foot Cyclops is about 200 points. Each experience point makes you a little bit stronger, faster, smarter, better; a whole new level can double your strength, really." Everyone's eyes widened.

"How high are you?" Kiba asked.

"Oh, level seventy two." Naruto said. And with that being said, his whole army appeared behind him as well.

"**Charge!" **Kyuubi screamed as he, the clones, Naruto and his friends all dived headlong into the battle. Kyuubi went off to slaughter some wolves that dared challenged him, while the clones crashed into the wolves as well. Electricity, fire, water, chunks of earth, swords, knives, and bodies were thrown through the air at a rapid pace. Shino and Hinata ended up separated from the rest of the gang. The other four charged the giant Cyclops.

* * *

><p>Kyuubi swatted another wolf away from his face with one of his tails and snapped a second's neck. A third and a fourth pounced as well, but their heads slammed against each other and their skulls shattered. The bodies were thrown into the masses of wolves that ringed him. A fifth one tried to get the jump on him from behind, but it soon found itself without a head. A sixth and seventh found themselves impaled on Kyuubi's claws.<p>

Another three wolves ran in and actually hit the Kyuubi in the chest, making him fall over. They quickly swarmed the demon, dog piling him in the hopes that he wouldn't get up. For a moment, the Kyuubi disappeared from view. Then, as if a dam had busted open, red chakra beamed into the sky. The wolves were blasted back, and the unluckiest of them all were obliterated by the volatile red chakra. As the wolves regrouped, they stared into the face of the true form of the Kyuubi.

* * *

><p>Hyosuke whirled into the battle, slamming wolves out of the way left and right. One wolf that came at him received a blow to the head so hard that it instantly died. Another wolf charged, and found its throat slit. A third and fourth tried to do a high-low combo on him, but Hyosuke easily dispatched of them.<p>

"Leaf Whirlwind," he said after slipping into the Strong Fist stance. He leaped over the low wolf and kicked the high wolf in the neck, easily breaking it. He then redirected himself and launched a kunai near the wolf which he had jumped over. Pulling on the ninja wire he had attached to the kunai, he came back down with a flying kick to the face. "Dynamic Entry!"

The wolf's face and skull caved in as Hyosuke's foot crash impacted with it. It skidded away, back into the crowd of wolves. He ducked and kicked another wolf in the ribs, sending it skyrocketing. He then jumped as four other wolves pounced his previous spot.

* * *

><p>Anju drew her two tanto blades and impaled both of them in both sides of a wolf's head. She swung the blades around and slammed the corpse into three others. She withdrew the two and sliced one wolf in half, while stabbing one that had pounced her in the heart. She dodged under an attack and jumped as she heard Jake finish his hand signs.<p>

"Demon Skill: Hell Flames!" Jake said as a stream of flames spouted from his hands. The white flames burned over one hundred wolves and created a fire wall over twenty feet tall, separating about another four hundred from the battle. The ones on fire instantly turned into ash. Strangely enough, the white flames then began to move onto a next target.

Jake turned after hearing a roar behind him, but it was too late. A wolf was coming down, ready to tear his throat out-

Three throwing knives impaled the side of the wolf's head, pinning the dead corpse to a withered, black tree. Jake sighed in relief and pointed a thumb up to Kogeri, who merely nodded before slicing one wolf's throat and kicking another into two more.

* * *

><p>Shino and Hinata stood back to back, circled by ten wolves who they could swear was laughing at them. They were, after all, only on level one; the wolves probably believed that they were of no threat and could easily be taken down. They probably also smelt Hinata's fear, and though Shino didn't show it, they smelt his as well.<p>

One launched itself at Shino, who quickly drew a kunai and sliced its head off. As violet blood rained upon him, however, something strange happened.

The world around Shino froze. The wolves stopped circling, Hinata stopped shaking, the clones stopped battling, and his friends stopped moving. He glanced around before realizing that he was still moving. Then, as if it were nothing but a game, several words appeared in the air.

**CONGRATULATIONS! UPGRADE TO LEVEL 2! **

**GAINED: 10 XP**

**REWARDS: +5 STAMINA**

**+5 STRENGTH**

**+5 INTELLIGENCE**

**+10 BLOODLINE ABILITY**

**NEW JUTSU: NINJA ART: POISON FOG**

**NEXT LEVEL: LVL. 3- NEED 20 MORE XP**

Shino looked on as the upgrades swirled before hitting him in the chest. Strangely enough, they sunk into his chest as opposed to knocking him over. He felt himself get energized, stronger, smarter, and also noted that his kikachu colony grew bigger by what he estimated, ten percent. He also felt the knowledge of a new jutsu imprint itself in his mind.

He expected it to stop, but instead it continued.

**CONGRATULATIONS! UPGRADE TO LEVEL 3!**

**GAINED: 20 XP**

**REWARDS: +3 CHAKRA**

**+10 HEALTH**

**+5 STRENGTH**

**+10 BLOODLINE ABILITY**

**NEW BLOODLINE ABILITY: MULTIPLE HOSTS 1!**

**DESCRIPTION: An Aburame who gets to this level can now have multiple bugs within him. Each new update of this ability increases the amount of types of bugs you can hold. Current amount: 3**

**NEW BUGS: WASPS**

**NEW BUGS: FLYING SPIDERS: SILK SPIDERS**

**DESCRIPTION: Flying spiders are mutant spiders that were crossbred with flies. There are several types of this species, which can be unlocked with later upgrades. These spiders produce silk very quickly. The silk is infused with chakra, making it tougher than the regular ninja wire. This silk can be used to make lightweight armor, or to wrap up and subdue an enemy.**

**NEXT LEVEL: LVL. 4- NEED 50 MORE XP**

**CURRENT STATUS: 30 OUT OF 80 XP**

Shino then noticed several options listed before him.

**CONTINUE**

**STATS**

**SAVE STATUS**

**SPEAK COMMANDS**

Curious, Shino said "Speak Commands," only for nothing to happen. Then he realized that it was actually telling him to speak his command.

"Save Status?" Shino questioned. A floating version of him appeared in midair, looking down at him as black masses floated around him. A bar floated above the illusion.

**STATUS SAVED! WHENEVER YOU DIE IN THE SHADOW REALM, YOU WILL APPEAR IN THE REAL WORLD ON WHATEVER LEVEL YOU ARE ON!**

The illusion was then covered with the black mass, which dissolved into nothingness. Shino felt a grin on his face so wide, that it wasn't even fit for an Aburame.

"Stats." He said more confidently. A full body image of him appeared, as well as personal info and stats.

**NAME: SHINO ABURAME**

**AGE: 12**

**HEIGHT: 5'4**

**WEIGHT: 152 POUNDS**

**STATS**

**STRENGTH: 30**

**HEALTH: 40**

**INTELLIGENCE: 75**

**STAMINA: 45**

**CHAKRA: 47**

**BLOODLINE ABILITY: 60**

**NINJUTSU AMOUNT: 5**

**TAIJUTSU: 35**

**GENJUTSU: 35**

**TACTICS: 50**

**LUCK: 40**

**CHARISMA: 30**

**SPEED: 35**

**AGILITY: 30**

**CURRENT LEVEL: MID TO HIGH GENIN**

Shino nodded and vowed that he would work on his Taijutsu and learn more jutsu. Apparently, after reading over what could get him experience, under the list went several things, which included:

**TRAINING: 5 STRENGTH XP PER SIX HOURS**

**3 STAMINA XP PER FOUR HOURS**

**5 TAIJUTSU XP PER EIGHT HOURS**

**1 NINJUTSU PER TWENTY FOUR HOURS**

**5 GENJUTSU XP PER TWELVE HOURS**

**2 BLOODLINE ABILITY XP PER SEVENTY TWO HOURS**

**5 HEALTH XP PER EVERY WEEK **

**STUDYING: 5 INTELLIGENCE PER TWO HOURS**

**5 HEALTH XP PER EVERY FIVE DAYS**

**DOING D-RANKED MISSIONS: 1 XP FOR CATEGORY OF YOUR CHOOSING**

**DONING C-RANKED MISSIONS: 2 XP FOR CATEGORY OF YOUR CHOOSING**

**DOING B-RANKED MISSIONS: 5 XP FOR CATEGORY OF YOUR CHOOSING**

**DOING A-RANKED MISSIONS: 10 XP FOR CATEGORY OF YOUR CHOOSING**

**DOING S-RANKED MISSIONS: 20 XP FOR CATEGORY OF YOUR CHOOSING**

Various other things also gave him XP, but Shino didn't really focus on them. Also, there was a note that told him that unforeseen situations may give him the opportunity to gain additional XP.

"Continue," Shino finally said. He nailed another wolf in the head with the kunai, sending him to level four and grabbed hold of a pouncing wolf by its neck before snapping it. Two more attacked him, but he smashed their heads together and impaled them on a tree branch, boosting him up to level five. He waited for more to come, but they never did.

Hinata struck one wolf in the heart and twirled as another jumped by. She palmed a second in the heart as well, then hit a third in the head and a fourth in the heart as well. She then struck several arteries and veins on the final wolf's neck, effectively ending the wolf's life.

* * *

><p>Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto ran up to meet the Cyclops, who bellowed.<p>

"_You really think that you four puny humans will actually be able to hurt me, much less kill me? BAH!"_ he chuckled before swiping at them with his club. Each ninja jumped up and over the attack, before landing in various spots.

"Expansion Jutsu!" Choji said as he easily turned into a thirty foot giant himself. He raised a humongous fist and smashed the Cyclops in the head.

"_GWAAGH!" _it screamed as it lost its balance.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Stitching Jutsu." Shikamaru said from underneath a tree. He grinned as he sat in the Shadow Realm and watched his shadow go to work. As a Nara who used Shadow jutsu, being in a world where shadows existed everywhere made him exponentially more powerful than anyone else.

His shadow weaved in and out of the shadows of random objects; trees, walls, wolves and clones, until they reached the Cyclops. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of shadow needles suddenly branched from the main shadow and impaled the beast all at once. It gave a might roar, its voice full of pain and agony, as its body dripped golden blood. It smacked Choji down, knocking the boy over. He then tried to bash Choji's head in with the club, but two identical drills to the eye stopped him.

"Tunneling Fang!" Kiba screamed as he and Akamaru-turned-Kiba drilled into the scene and hit the mighty warrior in its lone eye. The Cyclops bellowed once more, both in pain and frustration. It had been punched in the face with what felt like a two ton truck moving over one hundred miles an hour, impaled repeatedly through the stomach and torso, and had it's eye drilled at. How could he, a might Cyclops warrior, be injured by such weaklings? The mere thought of being defeated by this group of meager humans angered him to a whole different level.

Shikamaru, Kiba and Choji watched in horror as the Cyclops went on a rampage, smashing things left and right and creating earthquakes with his forceful feet. The boys were all lucky to have saved their data, as Choji was hit upside the head with the club. Kiba was smacked and sent sailing through the air before landing in a river of poisonous liquid that resided nearby. The tree Shikamaru had been sitting under fell over and crushed him. All three boys dissolved into a white pile of ash before it blew away into the storm in the sky.

The Cyclops finally was able to see again and looked down to see Naruto standing fearlessly before him.

"_AHAHAHAHAHA!" _the deranged being roared with laughter befitting of a mad scientist. Naruto quirked an eyebrow.

"Um…I came for a battle, not to watch some ugly shit to laugh all day." Naruto stated with a sweat drop. In response, three trees smashed into his previous location. Unfortunately for the Cyclops, Naruto had jumped back and away from the impact zone.

"Demon Skill: Kagutsuchi's Revenge!" Naruto screamed as a fireball of white, black and blue fire flew at the beast.

This technique was granted to him, just as all other Demon Skills, thanks to Kyuubi. The myth of Kagutsuchi, the fire god, was that his birth caused the death of his mother, Izanami. Depressed over her death, Kagutsuchi's father, Izanagi, beheaded Kagutsuchi and cut the remaining body into eight pieces. The jutsu was aptly named "Kagutsuchi's Revenge" because when the Nibi no Nekomata had fought against Izanagi some three thousand years ago, she used this jutsu and managed to actually cause a wound. Hence, she named it Kagutsuchi's Revenge in honor of the god of fire.

The fireball seemed to wail as it flew through the air; and with the explosion equivalent to three nuclear bombs, the jutsu detonated as it made contact with the great beast. A giant tower of fire reached into sky, splitting the storm clouds and revealing a blue moon. In the center of the tower, the Cyclops roared in unfathomable pain as some of the hottest flames of Hell burnt him to a crisp.

Kagutsuchi's Revenge, when fully powered, could burn longer than Amasterasu and was about four thousand degrees hotter. The Hell Flames were a little under Amasterasu, as the goddess had only bestowed that gift upon the Uchiha, and try as they might, no one else could replicate it. Naruto's version of Kagutsuchi's revenge was slightly above Amasterasu; it could burn for five days, but was three hundred degrees hotter.

Shino and Hinata stopped panting and what they were doing, as did Kyuubi and all the remaining wolves to witness the violent explosion and the resulting flame tower. All of them, even the wolves and Kyuubi, gaped like a fish out of water as it reached upwards and into the heavens, possibly above. It stayed that way for a minute before it died down, revealing a much burnt Cyclops laying in the center of a fifteen foot wide and forty foot deep crater.

With very low growls, the remaining wolves, only about three hundred in number massively thanks to the clone army Naruto summoned, fled from the battle, accepting defeat but not liking it. As Shino sent his new wasp colony and a few flying spiders to kill off some more and possibly bring one or two back for studying, he realized that they would most likely be back sooner than later. And he would gladly go through it all again if it meant that he would get as strong as he did.

Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji were only up to level seven for killing several wolves and injuring the Cyclops. Shino and Hinata were up to level ten already with all the killing that they had done.

As the remaining clones dispelled, Kyuubi, Shino and Hinata trekked up to where Naruto was standing, at the very edge of the crater. They followed his line of sight to the abomination that was the Cyclops. It was still breathing, though unable to move and do anything more than to breathe and talk.

"_How?" _It managed to gasp out. Naruto smirked.

"Size doesn't mean power." Naruto said. He was about to finish him, but Kyuubi stopped him.

"What are you doing?" Naruto questioned. Kyuubi grinned and turned back into his full fox form.

"**I haven't had a good meal in ages…" **Kyuubi trailed off. Naruto and the others turned away as the screams of the Cyclops and the laughter of the Kitsune sounded for a second before the screams died out. They turned back to see the Kyuubi looking at them with a grin.

"**Hmm…crispy." **Kyuubi said. With that, Naruto forcibly removed everyone from the dimension.

* * *

><p>They tumbled out to land upon a just recently recovering Choji, Shikamaru and Kiba. All six mumbled and groaned as they detached their limbs from the others. At last, after a minute or so, they regrouped.<p>

"What was that?" Kiba asked.

"Like I said, it was the Shadow Realm. The castle was my fort; those which we just battled against are some of my enemies. I train in there to increase in strength rapidly. Even you all have to admit that you feel stronger, faster, smarter, and just downright better just from killing those few wolves and fighting the Cyclops. That's because the Shadow Realm treats all its inhabitants like a video game character; you gain battle experience for killing an enemy. You gain enough, and it rewards you with strength, speed, intelligence, luck, and so on and so forth.

The Shadow Realm is divided into several stages; Home Base, Forest, Mountains, Desert, Ocean, Cloud Nine, the Nine Circles of Hell, and the Factory. Home Base was a large area of land- nineteen hundred acres of land all for my intents and purposes. The Forest, Mountains, Desert, and Ocean compromised of the Earth that separates my home base from their home base. After crossing the Ocean, I enter a portal that sends me into a challenge; the Nine Circles of Hell, where I face nine demons of varying levels and then the Tailed Beast, such as the Ichibi at level ten, the Nibi at level twenty, and so on and so forth. After you defeat the Kyuubi, you can make it to Cloud Nine, where it's the same thing except with angels and gods. If you can make it past that, then you face off against the greatest monsters the Factory, the enemy's base, can create. If you can take over their base, then you can win the game and it restarts exponentially harder.

The only reason I'm at level 72 is because I took a shitload of my inventions, a ton of my clones, a whole army of clones of the Fourth Hokage into battle, a crapload of summons, and I abused my Rinnegan, and made it all the way through. After that, Cloud Nine and the Nine Circles of Hell were added. Heck, after that whole ordeal, I was out for nearly a month in Shadow Realm terms, which was basically that week I was absent." Naruto explained. Everyone's jaws dropped.

Was this kid fucking serious?

Shino was the first to break out of his stupor. "Well, next time, call me and I'll help you. Hell, we may even advance some." The black haired Aburame said, shocking all at the fact that he spoke as long as he did, was as excited as he was, was using such language, and was willing to head back in.

Naruto chuckled. "Shino, you must be seriously fucked up."

Shino shook his head vigorously. "No, I'm not fucked up. But I'm high on a power rush. Can't you feel it? How strong you've gotten? My Taijutsu is almost double what it used to be, I've picked up a new Ninjutsu, I've gotten smarter, faster, healthier, more energetic, my hive has gotten larger, I have more chakra, and I have two new hives of insects! And that was barely an hour in the real world." he said. Now that he mentioned it, everyone else started to realize it as well.

"Hey, yea!" Kiba agreed. "I got smarter, faster, stronger, healthier, luckier, a learnt a new jutsu as well, my chakra has gone up, my sense of smell has increased even further, and I can communicate with wolves now, since for all intents and purposes they are just large dogs. Plus I can fight with two dogs now!"

Shikamaru nodded. "Apparently I got faster, stronger, healthier, luckier, and more charismatic, my shadow can extend longer, I have better chakra control, and I know a new shadow jutsu."

Hinata poked her fingers together. "I got faster, healthier, stronger, smarter, more charismatic, my Byakugan can see further, and I can also see some new tenketsu…plus, I received a new jutsu that will be perfect for fighting another Hyuga." she said. Naruto could already see that the charisma boost was taking place, because she didn't stutter or blush when looking at Naruto, though she couldn't maintain eye contact.

Choji nodded as well. "I got faster, healthier, smarter, more chakra, better chakra control, a new Earth jutsu, and a new Akimichi jutsu." Naruto nodded.

"If you all were to help me conquer the Shadow Realm, we'd all get so much stronger that we'd leave someone like Sasuke-teme in the dust." All the others nodded and looked at a nearby clock to see that it was 8:29.

"Um, guys?" Kiba prompted. Naruto nodded.

"It's covered." A portal opened on the wall, and Naruto stepped in. Shrugging, Shikamaru went in, followed by Kiba, Hinata, Shino and Choji.

* * *

><p>Iruka sighed as he looked at the class for the very last time. They had their share of bad times, but he could confidently say that this class was his favorite.<p>

'…_Though I could go without Naruto being late all the time. Heck, now six of them are late.' _Iruka mused as the class talked amongst one another.

To his surprise and everyone else's shock, a gateway opened on the way, followed by Naruto stepping out. Behind him, Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata, Shino and Choji all fell out as well. The last five shuddered and groaned at the apparently unpleasant sensation, while Naruto looked at them with a smirk. Iruka made to ask him, but then decided against it.

Every ninja had their secrets, after all.

He watched and waited as the six retreated up to the final two desks in the room. Shino, Naruto and Hinata sat in one table, while Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru sat at the table next to them.

"Teach me how to do that, dobe." Sasuke demanded once again.

"Impossible, Sasuke. Only those with a Shadow alignment can do it. Shikamaru, Shino, Choji, Kiba, Hinata and I all have it, while you don't. In fact, the only other one who could hope to do it is Iruka-sensei, actually. Would you like to learn it?" Naruto stated, and then asked of his teacher, who nodded.

"It looks way cooler than a regular shunshin." He commented. Naruto nodded.

"It moves way faster as well." Sasuke growled, which in turn made Naruto chuckle.

"Alright class, listen up. This will be our last time as a class together. I'm going to tell you that the path to being a ninja is not going to be easy, and that you might even die in your line of duty." This caused several people to blanch. Iruka only grinned. "But, I believe that you all will rise to be the greatest group of ninjas that this world has ever seen."

All of the genin nodded with a small smile, except for Sasuke. The scarred chunin then proceeded to unravel a scroll.

"Alright, Team 1 is…" and so it went on and on, until at last, Naruto heard his name.

"Team Seven consists of Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame. Your jonin sensei is Kakashi Hatake." At that, Naruto nodded and looked at the two sitting next to him with a smile before raising an eyebrow. Meanwhile, Shino gasped.

"Our sensei is THE Kakashi Hatake?" he asked. Iruka nodded, while Sasuke scoffed.

"What's so special about this no name?" he asked. Naruto level a glare at him.

"Kakashi Hatake, son of the White Fang of Konoha, and world-renowned Leaf ninja. Also known as Copy Ninja Kakashi or Kakashi of the Sharingan, Kakashi graduated the Academy at the age of five and was chunin by six. At thirteen, he was already a jonin. In the Fourth Great Shinobi War, he gained the Sharingan from his friend, Obito Uchiha, and after that, became known for mastery of over a thousand jutsu. He was the student of the Yondaime Hokage, and was the head of the ANBU for several years. He is an A-class ninja worth 50 million ryo by Kumo and Iwa." Naruto stated. Sasuke growled.

"So why do they get this Kakashi guy and not me? I'm an Uchiha, he has the Sharingan, and he can teach me! Why do the no-named idiots get him?" Iruka glared at him as well.

"Sasuke, just because you are an Uchiha does not make you better than everyone else. These three are not no-named idiots; Shino and Hinata are heirs to the Aburame and Hyuga clans, and Naruto is one of the most talented kids I've ever seen. As for why they get him, from what I understand, you haven't unlocked your Sharingan, so you don't need him yet. Hinata's Byakugan, Shino's kikachu, Kakashi's ninken squad, and Naruto's wolves make up a great tracking squad. Team Eight is Sasuke Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, lead by Kurenai Yuhi. Sasuke, the Sharingan is a mainly genjutsu dojutsu, and Kurenai is the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha, so that is why you're on her team."

As Iruka finished explaining, twin shouts of "TRUE LOVE CONQUERS ALL!" and several groans, including that of Sasuke, were heard. Iruka shook his head and continued.

"Team Nine is still in circulation from last year, and Team Ten is Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi, lead by Asuma Sarutobi. You are to wait here for your jonin senseis."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Sarutobi shook his head and rubbed his temples. The council was bitching over the team formations, and the jonin sensei was standing in front of him, also questioning the decision.<p>

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Sarutobi finally snapped, causing several people to look at him and all to silence themselves. The Hokage never cursed, and when he did, it meant that he was seriously and utterly pissed.

"One at a time." He said. Danzo started the conversation off.

"Hokage-sama, please explain why the teams are this way." He asked.

"Team Seven consists of Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki, with Kakashi Hatake leading them because they are to be both the tracker and ninjutsu squad. With Shino's kikachu, Hinata's Byakugan, Kakashi's ninken pack, and Naruto's wolf summoning, they will make a better tracker squad then say, Kiba instead of Naruto, since wolves have a greater sense of smell. All three also absorb ninjutsu very quickly, and with Naruto's Rinnegan, he'll need a lot of ninjutsu. Shino relies on his kikachu too much, as does Hinata with the Gentle Fist. They will need ninjutsu to back them up as well.

Team Eight is Sasuke Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, led by Kurenai Yuhi. Kurenai is an astounding genjutsu user, and as one of the Sharingan's main abilities is to cast unbreakable genjutsu, she makes a perfect fit. Kurenai was also a fan girl in her younger days, so she can break Sakura's and Ino's current mindset and build them into competent ninja. Also, both have excellent chakra control, and as Kurenai does have some form of medical training, we can patch them into medical ninjas if given enough time.

Team Ten is Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi, led by Asuma Sarutobi. Kiba is fast, Choji is strong, Shikamaru is intelligent, and Asuma is all three. Combined, this makes a very well-rounded team. Shikamaru has techniques to restrain, while Kiba and Choji have techniques to batter and beat down an opponent." Sarutobi explained. Homura spoke his concerns.

"But Hiruzen, Sasuke should be on Kakashi's team with the Aburame and the Hyuga. He will need training in the Sharingan-"

"Which he hasn't activated yet." Kakashi cut in. "There's no point in me training an Uchiha how to use a Sharingan when he can't use it. It's a moot point. Besides, the Rinnegan and Sharingan can go hand in hand if used properly. I'd rather teach Naruto over Sasuke anyway."

"Hokage-sama, I propose that the Uchiha takes the Hyuga heiress as his wife. That way-" a random merchant of the civilian council began.

"Nope. I will not let my daughter get married to him, as the Hyugas and Uchihas were always on bad terms. Besides, if your trying to create an ultimate dojutsu, it's been proven that the offspring of an Uchiha and a Hyuga will always take on a Sharingan or a Byakugan, never both." Hiashi briskly cut off that suggestion.

"Anything else?" Sarutobi asked.

"Do I really have to work with the Uchiha?" Kurenai pleaded. Sarutobi nodded, which caused her head to hang.

"Council adjourned. Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi, I suggest that you pick up your teams now." Asuma and Kurenai nodded, but Kakashi waved the suggestion off. "I've still got at least three more hours."

Sarutobi sweat dropped, but it was wiped away as Kakashi snapped his book shut. Noticing that they were the only two in the room, Kakashi began in his ANBU commander voice.

"Hokage-sama, I'd like to speak to you in private." In other words, Kakashi was requesting that the security and silencing seals were activated. Sarutobi frowned, but did so anyway.

"What is it, Kakashi?" he asked of the jonin. Kakashi glanced around and then told the Hokage of his worries.

"Hokage-sama, what if the Council gives Sasuke a mission to impregnate the women he wants to so he can revive his clan?"

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed. "Let them. I know that the young Uchiha only likes strong people, so he'll go after those he deems strong enough. But they should be strong enough to hold their own against him." Kakashi nodded and disappeared.

* * *

><p>Homura and Koharu walked briskly throughout the village, talking along the way of village concerns and matters.<p>

"Lunch?" Koharu prompted as they entered Ichiraku Ramen. Homura nodded as they got into the table for two.

"Homura, what do you make of the team decisions?" Koharu asked. Before he could give his answer, a waiter walked up to them.

"What would you two like today?" she asked.

"A medium bowl of vegetable ramen, please." Koharu stated.

"A medium bowl of ginger carrot soup, please." Homura ordered. The waitress nodded and walked up to another cook, who took the order and disappeared inside the kitchen.

"I think that Hiruzen truly messed up the team decisions. The Uchiha deserves to be on Kakashi's team, not the demon child. Instead, he ends up with two useless fan girls." Homura answered Koharu's previous question.

"Not quite. I hear the Yamanaka doesn't actually like the Uchiha." Koharu said as their food arrived. Koharu took a sip of the broth, as Homura took a spoonful of soup into his mouth.

"Really now?" Homura asked. Koharu nodded.

"She acts like a useless fan girl apparently to fool everyone so that they underestimate her. Of course, she needed someone to admire, which turned out to be the Uchiha." Homura raised an eyebrow.

"Well then, I guess it's only one useless fan girl." Koharu nodded again as she took in some vegetables.

"But Sasuke needs to revive his clan…we should give him a special mission from the Council to get several wives as soon as possible." Koharu said. Homura nodded.

"They have to be strong, of course. Do you have any in mind?" Koharu nodded once more.

"That Yamanaka, Kurenai, the Hyuga girl, the snake whore, and a few others." Homura wrote them down and passed it on to a fellow councilman that had walked by.

As they finished their meal, however, both clutched their hearts.

"Urgh…what's…happening?" Koharu asked as she felt a severe pain. She glanced at Homura to find that he had already collapsed. She, too, fell face first into her ramen.

As the people screamed over the two elders, a brown-haired cook watched with a glint in her eyes before puffing into smoke.

* * *

><p>In the Academy, Naruto grinned as he received the memory from Kogeri. Her mission to assassinate Koharu and Homura went well, apparently. Those two were a thorn in Naruto's side for a long time.<p>

"Guys, Kakashi won't be here for at least another two hours." he told his pacing teammates, who were the only other two in the room.

"Why not?" Hinata asked. Naruto shrugged.

"It's one of his quirks. He always appears at least three hours late unless it is a direct order from the Hokage. If it is, then he'll be about half an hour late." Shino raised an eyebrow.

"And you know this, how?"

"The BINGO book does wonders." was Naruto's simple reply.

Two hours later, the door finally slid open to reveal a male with silver, gravity defying hair. His mask covered his most of his face, while his headband was slung over his left eye, leaving only his right eye visible. He carried a small orange book that he read from, and was leaning on his right foot so much that he was standing slanted, giving off the impression that he was very lackadaisical. Everyone sweat dropped, Naruto doing so massively, at the way he presented himself.

"Hmm…my first impression of you all is that you're slow, seeing as how I've been waiting on the roof for you for the past three hours." he said with an eye smile. Everyone face faulted, with Naruto being the first to recover.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he said angrily.

"Naruto, I trained you well enough to sense another ninja, didn't I?" he asked in return. "Anyway, meet on the roof in five minutes." With that, Kakashi disappeared. Naruto snorted and jumped out of the window. Shino and Hinata recovered and did the same.

As soon as Kakashi leaned on the rail, Naruto, Shino and Hinata all jumped up and landed sitting next to the other. He chuckled at both their speed and how they landed, as well as how close they seemed to be to each other.

"Alright, since we're just meeting each other, for the most part," he said before looking at the sun-kissed blonde, "let's start introducing ourselves, name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dream, etc."

"Shouldn't you go first, Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked. Kakashi sighed.

"Fine. My name is Kakashi Hatake-"

"He likes reading his smut and sleeping, he dislikes not being able to read his smut and doing anything that really requires effort besides fighting, his hobbies include reading his smut and taking care of his ninken, and his dream, besides seeing his teammates once more, are to collect every Icha Icha book and movie there is." Naruto finished with a snicker. Shino stared at Kakashi while Hinata turned a very deep red. Kakashi chuckled nervously.

"Ahaha…ha-ha…ha…Naruto, you're up first." Kakashi said. Naruto shrugged.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen, getting stronger, and my friends, I dislike bullies, rapists, and Sasuke, my hobbies are cooking, training and reading, and my dream is to become the Hokage." Naruto said in one breath. Kakashi nodded.

"Aburame, you're up next."

"My name is Shino Aburame, I like bugs, my friends and training, I dislike people who kill bugs, bullies, rapists, and arrogant people, my hobbies are searching for new bugs, training, and hanging out with friends, and my dream is to become the Aburame clan head and show the world why we belong in Konoha." Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"For an Aburame, you sound like quite the social one." Shino shrugged.

"Meh." Kakashi shook his head and looked expectantly at Hinata.

"My name is Hinata Hyuga, I like Naruto, my friends, and getting stronger, I dislike most of my clan, Sasuke, and fan girls, my hobbies include gardening, hanging out with friends, and reading, and my dream is to become Hyuga clan head and merge the two branches." she said. Naruto looked at her in shock.

"Did you say that you like me?" Naruto asked. Hinata's hand clasped over her mouth and she turned red, before she shrugged.

"Ah well, it's out there now." she said. Kakashi noticed a small shift in Naruto's posture that headed towards her. He inwardly smirked.

"So I have a blonde that wishes to be Hokage, a social Aburame, and a warm Hyuga on my team…odd." he stated with an eye-smile. His soon to be students smirked at him as well.

"So guys, tomorrow, meet me at Training Ground 7 at six o'clock for your genin test." Kakashi said. Before anyone could even question what he said, he continued by saying "don't eat, you'll just puke anyway." With that, the scarecrow disappeared, leaving three stunned genin.

Naruto broke out of his stupor first. "So I'm going to show up at nine o'clock having eaten breakfast. Right now, I'm going to get lunch at Ichiraku. You guys coming?" he asked. The two looked at each other before following him towards the restaurant.

On a nearby building, Kakashi smirked.

'_They'll make a legendary team.' _And with that, the Copy Nin went off to join his jonin friends.

* * *

><p><strong>**The Shadow Realm belongs to Devil Keyz Writing. I'd like to thank him for allowing me to use his idea of the Shadow Realm. I may have changed it slightly, but it was his idea. Go and check out Black Flames Dance in the Wind: Rise of Naruto. The story is just epic in both length and content.<strong>

**Cut!**

**So here is the next part of TDB for you. Figure out what TDB is.**

**Next chapter is the oh- so loved bell test!**

**Stay tuned for more!**

**Andrew out!**


	4. Chapter 3: The Bell Test

**Hey all, I'm back with the next chapter for The Demon's Blessing!**

**This is going to be the bell test chapter. I almost totally forgot about this and skipped to Wave, but after re-reading my last chapter, I saw the note I wrote about the bell test. Yay for reading your own story!**

**I'm thinking about doing an original arc later on, but I don't know…if you guys have an idea for a mission that you want me to do and I like the idea, leave a review please. It has to be realistic, not something like Naruto goes and faces off against 3 S-class ninjas and five hundred bandits and slaughters them all. That's not going to happen.**

**I like the feedback I'm getting, keep it up! At this rate, this story should out-pace my other story in terms of reviews.**

**Speaking of which, expect more updates on this than Naruto, Version 1. I'm not abandoning it, but my ideas for that are churning slower than this one.**

**Also, unfortunately, a little thing called high school has come into my life. Thanks to that, the travel time between home and high school, and the soccer team for the school I'm on, updates will have to be cut back a little. Sorry to all my readers, but academics come first, then pleasures.**

**On the other hand, my high school gives me lots of free times, and they provide a Dell Netbok for us students when we request one, so I can actually work on this in school. As a matter of fact, this chapter was published from my school's library!**

**To perseus perverell, I apologize if that and the story makes Naruto's mannerisms seem that he's coming off arrogant and conceited. I'm not trying to make a story where he comes off that way, but he says that because**

**A) It annoys Sasuke to no end**

**B) It's true**

**C) He's trying to keep up the idea that he's the strongest there is, when in reality there are people far, far, far stronger than him. That will only serve to fuel his efforts in getting stronger. He doesn't want to admit it, but he and everyone else knows it's true. The others don't comment on his arrogance because he has beaten everybody in spars and the like, so they know how much stronger he is than them. **

**In regards to the pairings of this story, I am undecided. However, I'm thinking about a harem because I want both Hinata and Yugito with him. Hinata because she was the only girl that loved him for his whole life, and Yugito because they share the pain of being Jinchuriki. I might add Temari because of everything he does for Gaara, but the harem will be rather small in size.**

**I believe that this might be the longest author's note I've written in my short time as a writer of , but hey, there's a first for everything.**

**Without further ado, here is the next chapter of TDB!**

* * *

><p>Naruto stood in the Shadow Realm with Shino and Hinata, giving them the grand tour. Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji would have to get one later.<p>

Before he had started, he had created several guards outside his home base. Among them were giant praying mantises, several hundred light wolves- the counterpart to the Beastial wolves- a thirty foot long spider-scorpion, several hundred flying ninjas, a few hundred dragons with the Rinnegan, a huge row of Venus fly traps, one hundred Fourth Hokage clones, one hundred Kakashi Hatake clones, one hundred Itachi Uchiha clones, one hundred of his regular clones, and several thousands of his clones henged into random grains of sand, trees, and just about anything else.

The thirty foot long spider was a special creation of Naruto's. It had very hard scales that he couldn't even pierce, eyes that fired lasers, a huge mouth to chomp on objects and spit either acid or nets to trap others, two poisonous tails, and monster strength. Oh yes, Naruto would definitely take them.

The flying ninja was something Naruto just randomly thought of once. Wouldn't it be awesome for a ninja to fly around and launch jutsu everywhere, confident that there was a very small chance to get struck? Having thought that, he had the workers on the Creation Division make them. They were very helpful because they held an aerial advantage against ground units, and were versatile enough to fight other aerial enemies.

The dragons were based off of Naruto's summoning contract with the species. As wielder of the Rinnegan, he could hold up to ten summoning contracts-one for each finger. So far, he held the wolf, dog, dragon, crab, toad (Jiraiya had visited him once when he was ten), snake (thanks to Anko, he could summon the lesser snakes), and fox (thanks to Kyuubi) contracts. The first four were granted to him with the Rinnegan. He was still searching for three more that he might've wanted to use.

The Venus fly traps were vastly different in the sense that they were much larger and had tentacles to grapple objects with. They were large enough to actually eat an elephant, and the tentacles were spiked. They were, however, susceptible to fire-based attacks, so that was their only weakness. If you got within ten feet of them, they would sense you and eat you.

After he had set the defenses around his home, he showed them the main mansion. It was thirty stories high, with ten floors underground as well. The bottom floor was an arena where he could train and fight against what he wanted to- the arena always fixed itself afterwards, so he could go all out without worrying about the damage he was causing. The top thirty floors were places where he stored weapons, relaxed, ate, and so on and so forth.

After that, he showed them to the hospital. It was three floors high, and the main doctor was simply named Doc. He held all the antidotes to poisons, all the known poisons, and just about everything else. He also mixed poisons for Naruto. The hospital was used to extend the life of severely injured forces of Naruto. That way, he didn't have to keep making more forces.

Third in the tour was his Factory. The Factory was filled with Workers who basically formed an assembly line, building new types of forces for Naruto. When they arrived, they saw them finish making a forty foot long butterfly that others could ride on and fire from. It was like a plane with people firing out of it.

Speaking of which, the Workers had gotten really technically and had invented stuff from so long ago. Naruto barely understood how a _helicopter _or a _machine gun _worked, but he knew that both were effective. He had used one for transportation to a rather large battle, and with him were two clones and several wolves. The clones had manned the machine gun and had mowed down several enemies, while he and his wolves had leapt out of the helicopter into the awaiting chaos and provided backup for his slowly dwindling forces.

Once they had visited the Factory, the three of them had moved onto the plains of the base. In the plains were several cows, horses and the like. It reminded all of them of a farm, which it partially was. The other part of the fields that weren't occupied by the animals was used by mechanics that were repairing helicopters and other technological things.

As the three of them sat inside of the mansion, enjoying a nice breakfast, they saw a clone barge back into the mansion.

"Sir! An army of Cyclopes, led by a twenty foot long crow, is assaulting the base!" he said breathlessly.

Naruto frowned. "What happened to the Venus fly traps?" he asked.

"They were able to take down some of the smaller Cyclopes, but it is a rather large army…there are 500 of them! The crow is swooping in and creating havoc as well, ripping up the Venus fly traps and taking away wolves and clones!"

"And the spider-scorpion?"

"It's busy facing off with the largest Cyclops." the clone reported. Naruto set down his tea and stood up, with Shino and Hinata standing with him.

"Let's go." he said, running off to the Factory with his teammates in tow.

* * *

><p>When they reached the Factory, they quickly explained the situation to the Workers. They then took the huge butterfly and flew away. Naruto had materialized several thousand of Suna King Cobra snakes, as well as walking Venus fly traps large enough to eat twenty foot tall Cyclopes, and several hundred more wolves. Together, the large army flew to back up the rest of the forces.<p>

When they arrived, the snakes flew into action, biting at the Cyclops and injecting them with poison. However, to the great annoyance of everyone, the poisonous snakes from the Forest came in and instantly started destroying Naruto's snakes. Not only that, but several large panthers also charged into the fray.

Naruto cursed and did hand signs, while Shino released all of his bugs and Hinata jumped down to go help the army.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu," Naruto said, launching a fire ball at the crow that had taken out three Itachi's and four Fourth Hokages. The fireball connected with the wing of the crow, which cawed as it feebly tried to fly away but couldn't due to it's burnt wing. A rather huge Venus fly trap- they got bigger based on how many enemies they ate and the size of the enemies- grabbed hold of the crow and forcibly stuffed it down into its gut…or whatever.

Naruto drew a tanto he carried with him at all time and flipped off of the butterfly as it made a low swoop to let off a few wolves and clones that had hitched a ride. He charged in, ready to kill some enemies, before several thousand trees came flying at both him and a few of his clones that had followed him on his command. Cursing, he hopped back with his clones onto the departing butterfly and instantly decided that he would use Ninjutsu against the great beasts instead.

"Demon Skill: Hell Flames!" he said sticking his palms out. Twin streams of white fire flew out and burnt three giants, who continued fighting for a short while before succumbing to the pain of the hellfire. Naruto moved on with his hand signs once more.

"Shadow Style: Shadow Spears," Naruto said. As the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, he held a Shadow alignment which allowed him to use Shadow jutsu such as the Shadow Portal and Shadow Spears.

Several pure black spears formed in the air and speared several Cyclopes, instantly killing them. Cyclopes were weak against Shadow attacks and Demon Skills.

"Shadow Style: Imprisonment," he continued. The shadow spears and other shadows nearby five Cyclopes warped around them, containing them in a cage.

"Shadow Style: Shadow Virus," Naruto said as small tendrils made of shadows sprouted from the cage and hit each Cyclops directly in the middle of the forehead. Seconds later, their eyes went completely black as the cage fell. The five Cyclopes turned and started assaulting their brethren.

The Shadow Style: Imprisonment-Shadow Virus combo was a favorite of Naruto. He would subdue an enemy and then use his Shadow Virus to disturb the brain functions and take it over, bending everything and anything- from animals to plants, humans to seals- to his will. The Shadow Virus was helpful in the fact that he could force someone to speak valuable info, make them infiltrate their camp and then kill their leader, or make them fight against their comrade. The better the mind an organism or thing had, however, the more concentration and time it would take to bend the object. The Shadow Imprisonment was unbreakable, only stopped by Naruto's will or stoppage of chakra.

Hinata, three Naruto clones and a Fourth Hokage charged one Cyclops. The Cyclops swung his club at the squad of five, dispelling one Naruto clone and missing the others. The Fourth Hokage hopped onto the club and rode it up near the Cyclops head before jumping at its face with dual kunais drawn. He plunged them into his eye and jumped off of the beast's nose as it swatted at him in pain, anger and indignation. The Hokage clone landed next to Hinata, who surged forward with another Naruto clone.

The Cyclops swung blindly at both of them. Hinata jumped over the attack while the Naruto clone dropped down and came back up before launching himself into a nearby tree. The tree was instantly knocked over, and out of it flew a dozen crows. One flew above the Cyclops and henged back into the clone, finishing up some hand signs.

"Lightning Style: Sparrow Shot," the clone said, using one of Naruto's original moves. Several small lightning birds- sparrows, from the looks of it and the suggestion of the name- flew quickly. They descended upon the Cyclops without mercy, bombarding him in showers of electricity just about everywhere. As he stumbled backwards with electricity arcing through his body, Hinata leapt up using a Hyuga clan technique.

"8 Trigrams: Double Air Palm!" she said, thrusting her left palm and then right palm forward. A blast of air struck the Cyclops at his left lung, followed by the right lung. Gasping as the air was forcibly pushed out of him, he stumbled backwards even more and right into a conveniently placed spasm that seemingly never ended.

Naruto knew how to alter his land; that was for sure.

Shino grinned as he level up, gaining a fourth type of bugs. They were the invisible mosquitoes. With a special ability to turn invisible, the mosquitoes were able to drain the blood of an animal relatively quickly. Combine that with his kikachu, and he became able to drain both blood and chakra simultaneously. It was a rather neat feature.

He sent his new hive out for an experiment. Several hundreds of mosquitoes swarmed a rather large panther who had taken down several wolves with ease. It roared as the small bugs swarmed and landed on it, sucking the panther's blood at an alarming rate, until a mere twenty seconds after the first mosquito reached the giant cat, it fell over dead from the lack of blood.

Finally, as several clones mugged a Cyclops, the battle was over. All the clones cheered. The wolves howled in delight. Naruto and Shino smirked, while Hinata smiled at how well the battle went.

The three ninja sunk into the shadows just as they had came. A moment later, and the clearing was as empty as before the battle.

* * *

><p>The three rookie ninjas of Team Seven landed neatly in the shadow of a tree in Training Ground Seven, silently wondering whether or not their chronically late legendary ninja had even awakened yet. Their unspoken questions went answered as he arrived a second later in a swirl of leaves.<p>

"Judging from your positions, I'd say you just arrived via a Shadow Portal." He stated amusingly.

"How'd you know?" Shino asked their unvoiced and yet shared question. Kakashi's mask bent where the mouth should have been into a small U-shape, suggesting a smile.

"I trained Naruto under orders from the Hokage for seven years…I pretty much know his abilities, how he arrives, and just about anything else about him."

"Sensei, you only know of the abilities I decided to show you." Naruto said with a strange glint in his eyes.

"Are you so sure about that?" Kakashi retorted with a sparkle of his own in his visible eye. Sparks flew between them. As the fireworks show went off, Shino and Hinata sighed.

Like teacher, like student, apparently.

The staring contest ended when Kakashi withdrew his stare to speak to his team. Naruto gave a small smirk, silently congratulating himself for winning such a contest against the legendary Sharingan user.

No matter how strong Naruto was, he realized that Kakashi was still by far stronger. To win any contest against this man was a great accomplishment by itself. Guy and the Third Hokage were the only ones who knew what that feeling of defeating Kakashi at something was, and Naruto wanted to be part of that group.

"All right guys, today we'll be taking your genin test." Kakashi said.

"We took the test already, didn't we?" Hinata asked with a cute tilt of her head to the side, eyes holding curiosity. Naruto glanced at her like that before turning his head away. Kakashi noted he wasn't blushing, but the very corners of his lips were threatening to commit mutiny and break his impassive expression.

"You might think you did, but you didn't. See, that test was to weed out the hopeless causes. But out of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will pass. In other words, a total of three teams will pass." Kakashi explained, enjoying the look of horror from Hinata, startle from Shino, and the narrowed eyes from Naruto.

"What's the test?" Shino said in his monotonous attitude.

"Simple." Kakashi said, drawing two bells from his back pouch. "You three will attempt to get these bells from me."

"I hate to point out the obvious, but you only have two bells." Naruto stated.

"Oh really? Gee, I must have lost the third somewhere." Kakashi said, voice laced with sarcasm to the asshole power. "Obviously, the person who doesn't get the bell will be tied to a stump, forced to watch us eat our lunch, and then ultimately sent back to the Academy." As he said this, he took out three bento boxes from seemingly nowhere, listening intently for the sounds of stomach growling. He was surpised, however, to find that not one sound was made. He produced an alarm clock from nowhere as well before turning to them.

"I thought I told you not to eat breakfast." he stated.

"Yes, let's not eat and then face one of the best ninja in the shinobi world on an empty stomach!" Naruto said with the accompanying roll of the eyes.

"Breakfast is, after all, the most important meal of the day." Hinata spoke up, trying her best not to stutter. Ever since her charisma boosts, she had been trying harder than ever to suppress that stutter. She had it mostly down packed, but it would appear every once in a while. Next step: stop her blushing.

Kakashi sighed. "I guess you guys are smarter than I took you for." he said, causing them to smile a little. "Anyhow, when the alarm clock goes off at 1:00, the test is over." he said. "And one last thing: come at me with the intent to kill."

As soon as that cursed k-word left his lips, three kunai almost impaled him. The genius, however, easily plucked the lead one out of the air and deflected the other two. A second Kakashi popped up and held a kunai to Naruto's throat, whose arm was still outstretched.

"I never said start." he said in a bored tone. "But, you can begin now." With that said, the Naruto in the clone's grasp dispersed into smoke. Shino and Hinata leapt at him, but Kakashi performed a well-timed Substitution Jutsu with his clone, who knocked the two away with ease. Satisfied and confident that the clone could easily take care of them, he ran off, in search of one blond ninja.

* * *

><p>It wasn't even a full minute after Kakashi had journeyed into the surrounding forest when several shuriken whizzed towards Kakashi from through a tree branch. Leaping high into the sky off of his current branch, Kakashi managed to evade the deadly flying stars. However, his reprieve was over before it began, as three kunai knives, with explosive tags attached to them, came flying at him from above. Glancing up, he saw a Naruto clone smirking at him as they got closer and closer.<p>

Not one to be outdone, Kakashi just switched with the Naruto clone, who was killed by the explosion he created. But apparently Naruto had anticipated that move, because when Kakashi arrived in the air, a water dragon was about to slam into him.

Cursing, Kakashi used his chakra to make a chakra shield in front of him. The water dragon slammed into it, breaking through with almost relative ease. However, Kakashi's chakra had dulled the impact enough to take the hit without feeling pain. Instead, it just felt like someone had sprayed him with a fire hose, pushing him to the ground but not hurting him in any way.

"Curses Naruto, you got my hair wet." Kakashi stated as his gravity defying hair succumbed to its natural enemy, having gained too much weight from the water. It fell in front of his eye, hindering his sight only by a slight amount.

Naruto didn't respond with words. Instead, he drew his trusty short sword and flew at Kakashi, aiming to decapitate the man from behind. Kakashi simply ducked, and as the blond genin passed over him, he kicked upward with expert timing. His foot meet Naruto's stomach, sending him flying upwards from the impact.

Naruto just simply went with it. Not even bothering to reposition himself, he simply threw his blade into the air, creating hand signs.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" he exclaimed, launching a searing ball of flames at his teacher. Astonishingly, Kakashi created another thin layer of chakra, slicing through the flames with ease.

Finally turning himself in a total one eighty, Naruto caught his flying blade and flipped back, slicing through the air with his sword. "One Sword Style: Chakra Blade." he stated. A wave of blue chakra, taking the imprint of Naruto's blade, sliced through the air easily. It forced Kakashi to leap out of his ring of flames. The chakra cut three inches to the ground, according to Kakashi's estimate.

Naruto used his advanced chakra control to direct himself through the air with gentle breezes. As he landed, Kakashi appeared before him. Cursing, he threw his arms in front of him, seeing a fist aimed his face. As a result of blinding himself, he was thrown back by a fist to the stomach.

Naruto flipped and spring boarded off a tree, launching his feet in a drop kick at his jonin sensei. Kakashi sidestepped and jumped away, launching two kunai. Naruto weaved his way through them before launching a kick at Kakashi. Kakashi deflected the kick away and ducked under a roundhouse kick before launching himself away as Naruto's other foot swung at his face. The two ninja looked at each other before nodding.

The mental challenge, sent by Kakashi, was accepted by Naruto.

"Take this! Demon Skill: Hell Flames!" Naruto said.

"Shit!" Kakashi cursed as the white flames from the fifth circle of hell attacked him with ferocity. "Hatake Secret Clan Technique: White Chakra Shield!"

Almost instantly, white colored chakra blasted to form a dome-like structure around Kakashi. The white flames slammed futilely at the shield before disappearing, adding to the shield.

"What?" Naruto said, slack jawed as Kakashi smiled at him.

"Hatake Secret Clan Technique: White Chakra Canon!" As soon as he finished, the still raging white chakra formed into a beam that hit Naruto straight in the chest. Acting like a very powerful water gun, it shoved Naruto far away, through several trees and into the lake.

_'What the hell just happened?' _Naruto wondered as he floated downward into the lake.

**"I didn't tell you this secret because I thought that you'd never have to know it...the Hell Flames and every other Demon Skill was the ultimate weapon in the early days. Unfortunately, because of that, we foolishly went around fighting those who challenged us with these attacks. They created mass destruction, and Earth as you know it was almost destroyed.**

**Kami, the God of Heaven, saw what was happening on this land and decided to grant humans three special abilities to combat us. She did so by creating three clans on Earth, perfect for fighting demons of any kind. **

**The first group were the Senju. They were granted the power of control over us demons. How, we do not know. It is, however, suspected that because of their special wood chakra, they are able to tame us. I think that it's because it feels like nature itself is ashamed of you, and so you try to stop. The only Senju left is Tsunade of the Sannin, but she never activated her bloodline.**

**The second group were your kin, the Uzumaki. They were granted a bloodline called _Chakra Chains. _**With this bloodline, their hair would grow to impossible amounts. When the Uzumaki added chakra to their hair, it became as hard as the hardest material the Earth knows. It was even strong enough to subdue and restrain us Tailed Beasts in our true form! You, so far as I know, are the only Uzumaki left, as your native village, Uzushogakure, was destroyed in the war.****

****The final group, forgotten by many, were named the Hatake. The Hatake had a bloodline called _White Chakra._ This chakra is the pure form of holy chakra, made solely to counter all demonic attacks. Against an experienced Hatake who mastered his bloodline, even I would lose. The last Hatake is Kakashi, as the clan was brutally masacred during the Third War, and then Kakashi's father committed suicide. ****

****So, to reiterate, don't battle against a Hatake, Uzumaki, or a Senju with Demon Skills. EVER." ****Kyuubi concluded his speech. Naruto was stunned into silence.

_'...Fuck.'_

* * *

><p>Shino and Hinata sighed as the Kakashi clone got up again, for what had to be the tenth time. Honestly, they knew that it was a clone. They wanted to go help Naruto, knowing that he couldn't hold out against Kakashi for long. But the damn clone got up every time they supposedly "destroyed" it.<p>

"Secret Aburame Technique: Bug Blast," Shino drawled as his kikachu blasted the clone back into a tree, trying to drain the chakra from him. Instead, the clone flared his lightning chakra, leaving Shino's kikachu paralyzed but not dead.

The clone charged at Shino, intent on taking him out, but Hinata intercepted the attempt. The clone moved to the right to dodge a strike, before mirroring his actions in the opposite direction. He tried to flip over her, but the persistent girl followed the clone with her hand and struck the clone in the heart. It flew into the air, stunned enough for Shino's next move.

"Secret Aburame Technique: Wasp's Wrath," he said as his special hive of wasps came out to stab Kakashi's clone repetitively. The special hive had two main factions: one group, 90% of the whole hive, had poison-coated stingers. The other 10% had a special paralyzing venom coated on its stingers.

The paralyzing wasps stung the clone repeately in mid-air before leaving the paralyzed clone. Only, when they flew away, it revealed a log instead.

Shino cursed and moved his head to the left as a punch seared by, almost grazing his cheek. The flying spiders tried to wrap up the arm, but the clone disappaered and reappeared in front of Shino. Shino tried to block, but the chakra infused punch knocked the Aburame back.

"Wind Style: Gentle Fist Strike!" a female voice called behind the clone, who spun to see Hinata standing in the Hyuga's stance. She again tried to close a tenketsu, but Kakashi's clone jumped back to dodge. To his shock, the front of his jacket was cut, though Hinata never touched him.

"What?" he wondered out loud. Hinata smiled.

"The Hyuga are allowed to use their elemental affinities in using their Gentle Fist attacks. Now take this! Water-Wind Style: Water Palms," she said. Immediately, her speed increased so that the clone could only see afterimages. Once he located her, he cursed.

Of course, she was right in front of him, with both palms covered in water.

She thrust forward with both palms, hitting him square in the chest and sending him tumbling along the ground. He noticed that the water had increased the power behind the palm. He also noted that the water started spreading everywhere, starting with his arms and legs before finally drenching him.

"What is this?" he asked as he got slower and heavier. Hinata smiled again.

"My original technique. By using my water chakra, I can cover my hands with water. The water will spread around the object touched, slowing them down, making them easier to catch up to, and slowly setting in hypothermia. My wind chakra allows me to move much faster, explaining the high speed boost you saw." True to her words, he felt himself getting slower, both physically and mentally- a cause of the hypothermia.

"Fire Style: Firefly Gathering!" a voice exclaimed to his side. Not able to move or think straight, the clone could only sit there and feel as several small, white hot embers started gathering around him, from the feet up. At last, as it covered his whole body, the voice continued.

"Explode." the monotone drawled. Instantly, all the embers exploded in a small burst of fire. The clone fell to the clone, writhing in pain as the fire licked away at his skin, until at last, the clone finally dispersed.

Shino and Hinata sighed. Those attacks took a lot out of them. The amont of chakra needed to created so many embers of fire was astonishing for someone like Shino, whose reserves were small. And Hyugas typically had relatively small chakra coils, so the amount of chakra it took for her to cover her hands in wind chakra, and then to cover it in water and move at high jonin speeds using chakra, was draining.

"We need to get to Naruto. I admit, we won't be much of a help, but he's fighting a jonin-Sharingan no Kakashi, at that." Shino stated in a rather long speech. If Hinata had to be honest with herself, she could say that that was the longest she'd ever heard hin speak. But that idle thought put aside, she nodded and took off after the Aburame.

* * *

><p>Kakashi sighed as he received his clone's memories of how the battle went. The duo were certainly more skilled than he had thought they were. Individually, they were about Chunin in strength. But working together, they proved more than a match for his clone.<p>

_'They figured out the purpose of this test as well, so I suppose that I should pass them...but I can handle them. Plus, they haven't fought with Naruto yet, so I need to see how they work as a team.' _he glanced up at the sun. _'It should be about twelve thirty, so I can probably assume that this will be their last stand. But Naruto's been under for nearly ten minutes...he hasn't drowned, has he?' _Kakashi thought analytically. _'No...Naruto has a wind affinity. He's probably thinking of a plan, while preserving himself-'_

Two identical clones burst from the lake, followed shortly by a third. The two reached about fifteen meters in the air, while the third reached the twenty meter mark. The first two looked like they floated at the peak of their jump before turning and rocketing at him, face first. The third did a front flip before following them, only feet first instead.

Kakashi jumped back as the duo crashed face first into the dirt. It kicked up a dirt cloud, hindering his sight. The puffs of smoke that also went up didn't help. He heard the third land, but couldn't determine where.

Annoyed, Kakashi made some hand seals.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" he said.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" Naruto's voice said. As the cloud was blown away, Kakashi watched in horror as his wind attack collided with the fireball and came back at him. Kakashi quickly jumped back, straight into the water, thinking he was safe as the superheated fireball passed over him.

"Water Style: Five Great Hunting Sharks!" a distorted voice said. He looked behind him as five water sharks swam fiercely at him, with Naruto, who had an air bubble around his head, swimming behind them.

Kakashi swam away, heading towards the shoreline. The sharks swam faster, gaining on him quickly. Fortunately for the jonin, he reached the shoreline quickly enough. He grinned as the five sharks stopped, glaring at the male who was now standing back on the earth.

He turned away, however, to meet a brightly smiling Hinata.

"Hello! 8 Trigrams: Two Palms!" her hands blurred at the jonin, who was smirking. He dodged with ease, much to her shock.

"Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! THIRTY TWO PALMS! EIGHT TRIGRAMS: SIXTY FOUR PALMS!" the girl stated, getting more and more agitated as he started dodging each and every of her attacks. He even spun around the final heart palm and grabbed her by the collar of her eskimo jacket before throwing her into the recently arrived Shino. The two slammed into a tree...until Shino dissolved into bugs.

"Secret Aburame Technique: Chakra Drain!" the boy said as a chain of bugs flew at Kakashi, who jumped away and started running from them. He threw a kunai with an explosive note attached to it at the stream of bugs, which halted and spread apart. The kunai traveled undisturbed by the bugs until it reached Shino, where it exploded with such force that the log was hurled into the lake.

"Substitution, huh?" Kakashi asked lazily as the three landed, kneeling a good ten feet away and panting for breath. Even Naruto was breathing slightly harder than normal, but as always, he was the first to jump back up.

"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder!" he announced as a wave of lightning flew at the Copy-Nin.

"Water Style: Water Wall," he countered as the water from the nearby lake swirled around him. The lightning attack clashed with the water defense, shocking the water. However, Kakashi lay unharmed in the center, as a droplet of water never touched him.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" he exclaimed as the electric-charged water swirled even further into a dragon. It was twenty feet easy, and its baleful yellow eyes stared down the three helpless genin.

"Shadow Style: Void Portal Absorption," Naruto said as a portal of endless voids opened before him and his friends, swallowing the dragon whole. Naruto grinned and performed the counterattack to the move.

"Shadow Style: Void Portal Ejection," he stated. The water dragon, along with a huge fireball and several mud bullets, fired right back out of the portal. Kakashi gulped as each attack got closer and closer...

* * *

><p>The three grinned and Kakashi sighed as he stood, tied to the training post. Shino and Hinata held a bell each, while Naruto stood with his tanto pointed at Kakashi's throat.<p>

"How did this happen again?" Kakashi asked, still a little shocked at what had happened.

Naruto grinned before answering. "It's rather easy; you used the Substitution Jutsu with that log, but didn't realize that Shino's bugs were waitng for you. They tied you to the log, we took the bells, and then we untied you and tied you here."

Kakashi sighed once more. "You did good."

Suddenly, however, both Kakashi and the bells disappeared in puffs of smoke. They heard his voice coming from a nearby tree.

"But not good enough." As he said that, the alarm went off, signifying the end of the test.

"How did you...when did you...wha?" Naruto asked, rather shocked. Kakashi eye-smiled.

"You thought you caught me, but I had made a Shadow Clone a while back. I did a 'double' Substitution, you might say. I substituted with the log and did so again in rapid succession with my clone. After you attacked earlier with the water dragon after the explosions, I learned that if you knew where I would substitute to, then you would have an attack already set up. So, I subbed again with my clone, who had two clones henged into bells." he explained. Everyone's jaws dropped.

Kakashi Hatake was a genius, that much was certain.

"So...we fail?" Hinata asked uncertainly.

"No. You pass." Kakashi said. Surprise was evident on Hinata's and Shino's face, while Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Why did we pass?" Naruto asked.

"The goal of the test was to retrieve the bells...but what I was testing for was to see if you all could work as a team. Without teamwork, you three are nothing. There is always going to be someone stronger than you, but with teamwork, you can defeat them. My best friend once told me right before he died..." he trailed off. Everyone leaned in as Kakashi, who had turned away from them at the beginning of his speech, looked back at them.

"Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash." Everyone smiled at the wise words; and the three genin silently vowed to heed those words to the best of their ability.

"Now, tomorrow we begin our first day as Team 7!" Kakashi said. The three genin grinned even wider, and Kakashi gave an eye-smile.

"But Naruto is tied to the log."

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because I wuv you, otuoto." And with that, three of the team members ate happily, while the fourth planned several ways on how to kill his teacher.

After Kakashi left, leaving the three alone, however, the world around them froze and several words appeared in the air.

**SECRET XP POINTS UNLOCKED: 100**

**ACHIEVEMENT: TEAM SEVEN!**

**REWARD: TEAM COMBO 1**

As the three genin read the combo devised for them, they couldn't help but grin.

Oh, they had a big weapon now.

* * *

><p><strong>End scene!<strong>

**So guys, I hope you like this chapter. Please, review! **

**Next time is the beginning of Wave! From here on out, the story will change dramatically! Well, it already has changed, but its going to change even more!**

**REVIEW!**

**Andrew out! Now to study for my History test...**


	5. Chapter 4: The Beginning of Stormy Waves

**Hey guys, I'm back with the next chapter of The Demon's Blessing. **

**This is the beginning of the Wave Arc! WOOT WOOT!**

**So let's begin!**

A small brown object strolled down the streets, glancing from side to side every few seconds in watch for Konoha shinobi. It was brown, with light brown stripes on its head. The most distinguishing feature, however, was the red ribbon on its right ear.

This creature was the Daimyo wife's pet cat, Tora. To all the other Konoha shinobi, however, it was known as the Demon Cat from Hell, despised second to the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Why? Well, let's see.

Naruto sat in a tree about five feet behind the cat, glaring at the damn cat that he had captured twenty times in the last week. It had maimed his face so badly that he would have been scarred for life if it weren't for the Kyuubi working overtime. Why the Daimyo's wife was in Konoha for so long was a mystery in itself. Why she brought the damn cat just made no sense.

Shino sat about ten feet off to the right of the cat, also glaring at it. One time, it had cut up the top of his coat and broken his glasses, showing his face to Konoha. Why was that so bad?

One: it was in the middle of the Shopping District, full of females his age. Two: Aburames had very handsome faces, though none knew that.

When those two combined, the end result was that the Aburame had ended up with his own fan girl club. Almost every day after his missions were over, Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru would have to flee before the seemingly endless amounts of horny teenage girls and the occasional adult, meeting Sasuke once in a while as well.

Ever since then, Shino had hated the cat with every fiber of his being. He was pretty sure that even now, at least three fan girls were tailing him. After all, how was it that they knew exactly what time he was done with his duties and where he would be?

Hinata glared at the cat from about seven feet from the front of it. During one of the missions, it had made a beeline into the Hyuga compound. It somehow made it inside her house, tearing up her bed, her room, her father's room, and her favorite doll of when she was young. It also wrecked just about everywhere else in the compound, and even when her cousin, Neji, had struck it in the heart with a violent palm thrust, it had still survived and had enough to keep running.

Needless to say, her father needed someone to vent his frustration out on.

She could still feel the phantom pain of being knocked down every time she attempted to get into her stance.

Kakashi sat on a nearby building, glaring at the cat as well. Normally, Tora would never ever find him. So when it did one mission, Kakashi was shell-shocked.

That was the fatal mistake.

Everyone in Konoha noticed that he had been walking around that day with the lack of his book.

It was the brand new edition, signed by Jiraiya himself, and worth about 1,000,000 ryo in the other countries, as his was a year before it hit the market. And it was gone.

Tora, unsuspecting of its fate on this sunny August day, strolled onwards at a leisurely pace. That is, until Hinata dropped down in front of her. The cat hissed at her and bolted down the alleyway next to her, with Hinata in pursuit.

The cat only ran faster as twenty wasps started to sting at it, injecting venom taken from the poisonous snakes of the Forest of the Shadow Realm. It had no known cure and could easily kill a full grown elephant within a minute. How Tora survived several doses of the thing, nobody knew.

Tora came out on the other side of the street and raced down the road, ducking and weaving through the people scattered across it. Three dogs, each with the Rinnegan, appeared behind her and chased her as well. Hinata rode the biggest one, and the wasps, along with Shino and Naruto, ran in the back end of the formation.

Tora yipped as three more dogs appeared, one of which was a small, brown talking pug, appeared in front of her, cutting off her lane. She veered into a nearby alleyway that had three entrances, only to find out that she was trapped. Three Rinnegan dogs and Hinata were behind the brown cat, three ninken and Naruto were on her right, and Shino and his wasps were on her left. Kakashi stood on the building in front of her.

Before any of the party could react, however, a small fox bolted into the scene, running by as the formation of Hinata broke. Chasing the small kit was two chunin, who were each doing hand signs.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" one said.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" the other performed in a deadly fire and wind combination. Everyone and everything except for Tora scattered, as the cat was too transfixed by the glow to sense any danger. The fox kit darted off to the right, and the huge fireball hit Tora straight on.

The results were instantaneous. Tora screamed out in agony as the blazing flames, only fanned by the wind, cooked the cat alive. When the fire died out five minutes later, all that Team 7 could see were a pile of ashes and a somehow intact red bow sitting at the top. Kakashi glared at the two chunin, who gulped and made the hand seal to shushin away. Both disappeared in a plume of smoke, and everyone but Naruto deduced that they fled the scene of the crime.

Naruto smirked at what really happened. The chunin gulped, made the hand seal, and flared their chakra in a manner which suggested that they used the shushin to flee, hence the smoke cloud.

What nobody knew was that the chunin were actually his clones, as well as the fox. Since Konoha hated foxes ever since the Kyuubi attack, it was believable that they were attempting to attack what they considered a "demon." Tora was in the line of fire and didn't attempt to move out of the way, so it wasn't technically their fault that she died. As the chunin clones disappeared, the fox had run off from view and dispelled as well.

Naruto had to thank Shika's ingenious tactic planning and Kogeri's flawless execution for the assassination of Tora, which was complete.

Nobody fucks with Naruto Uzumaki and gets away with it.

* * *

><p>"WHAT!" a woman's scream pierced the relative quietness of Konoha's busy workday.<p>

Sarutobi sighed. "Team Seven, care to run by me how you managed to fail a D-ranked mission, of all things?"

Kakashi shook his head before going through his mission report once more. "We were trying to retrieve Tora and we had her trapped in an alleyway, when a fox ran by, chased by two of Konoha's ninja. They launched a fire ball after the kit, which dodged it, but Tora was in the line of fire- no pun intended- and was caught. After it cleared to reveal the ashes of the dem- I mean cat, they shushined away and I couldn't sense their chakra anymore." He then pulled a scroll and tossed it to the wife of the Daimyo. "Those are Tora's remains."

"Off with their heads!" she screamed. Kakashi shook his head.

"I didn't get to see their faces, as they were wearing masks…" he trailed off. After calming down and getting depressed over the death of her beloved Tora, she left, leaving the ninja alone.

"Well Team 7, I guess that you've earned a C-ranked mission, seeing as how you've taken care of Tora for us." Sarutobi said with a kind smile.

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?" said the scarecrow, who already knew.

"Oh, come on. Obviously Naruto created clones to conveniently kill the cat." Sarutobi stated with a roll of the eyes. Naruto started sweating, to which everyone grinned at.

"I don't know what you mean…" he said. Kakashi sighed while shaking his head.

"Naruto, I can tell the difference between a clone and a human being." he said. Naruto nodded but raised a question.

"Why didn't you just say that I killed the cat then?" he asked.

"Because Tora was around when I was a genin, and she was as much of a pain in the ass then as she was now." Sarutobi stated. Kakashi nodded, having remembered his days of catching the thrice-damned creature.

"So what's the mission?" Shino prompted. Usually, C-ranked missions included leaving the village, which meant that he could find new bugs to use. Also, he wished to see how strong he was. Maybe another round in the Shadow Realm wouldn't hurt him.

"Right…your mission is to guard this bridge builder back to his home country, the Land of Waves." Sarutobi stated while motioning for Iruka, who had been silently standing at the right of his desk, to go retrieve the client. A minute after the scarred teacher left, he returned with a drunken old man.

"Whassh dish? I paid for ninjas, not some kiddies in their diapers. The kid in the trench coat looks emo, the girl looks like she is under confident, and the blond dude looks strong, but he's still just a kid!" he said while getting ready to take a sip of his sake once more. To his surprise, however, when he brought the bottle full of liquid to his lips, he noticed that it was considerably lighter, and that the front of his shirt suddenly got wet. He glanced down to see his bottle cut at the handle, and then to Naruto, who had seemingly materialized a tanto out of nowhere and was holding it warily.

"Care to say that again?" he asked somewhat menacingly. The old man, to his credit, immediately sobered up from the effects of the alcoholic beverage and spoke in a much more certified tone.

"I apologize for insulting the quality of your shinobi, Hokage-sama, and I am honored that you have agreed to this mission. I am Tazuna the bridge builder, and I am currently finishing up the bridge that will soon connect the Land of Waves mainland with the Land of Fire, thus ensuring a trade route between us, and ultimately boosting both countries' power in one way or another." he stated. Kakashi nodded at the information he received before clapping once, drawing his genin's attention.

"Alright. Team 7, pack for what I assume will be a two week stay and meet at the eastern gate in a hour." he said. Everyone nodded and left to carry out their respective business: Naruto, Shino and Hinata to pack, Kakashi to go find the next book in the Icha Icha series, and Tazuna to stock up on sake and try out Konoha's version of the beverage.

What nobody would anticipate was that in the ninja world, cats really do have nine lives…

* * *

><p>Naruto stood before his six lead clones once more, leaving them assignments to carry out while he was gone.<p>

"Hyosuke, you guys need to practice each style." he said to the Taijutsu commander, who nodded and disappeared.

"Anju, I want you to focus on the katana. Hand me the second tanto and both sheaths." he told his Kenjutsu commander to do, who merely nodded and leapt out of the window after handing over the two short blades.

"Jake, go out and learn a defensive jutsu or two. I only know Water Style: Water Wall, and while I admit that it is powerful, a sharpened kunai covered in wind chakra could pierce it easily. Perhaps you should try to create a defensive Earth Style jutsu that creates a dome?" Naruto suggested. Jake nodded and disappeared by sinking into the earth.

"Shika, we need war-time formations. In case a war breaks out, we need to be prepared." Shika grumbled, really seeing no need in making them, but sat in the corner of the room with about ten other clones crowded around two tables, muttering amongst themselves while occasionally writing and pointing.

"Lisa, take the division and stay in the ANBU HQ for the whole period. You know what you're doing." Said clone nodded and left in a flash of lightning.

"Kogeri, you will stay with me on this mission. If something goes wrong, I want you to step in and cause havoc by assassinating someone. Also, have your division spread out in a five-mile radius around us. You know, better safe than sorry and stuff like that. Kogeri, if you get into a battle, you can always summon either me or the other clone commanders." The woman nodded and disappeared in a plume of smoke.

Naruto gathered his supplies in a simple scroll and left, ready for his first C-ranked mission.

* * *

><p>When Naruto arrived, he noticed that he was the third to have arrived, with Tazuna and Kakashi (surprisingly early) already present and talking. As he leaned against the gates, ready to leave, Shino and Hinata arrived finally.<p>

"Alright team, let's move out!" Kakashi said. His team nodded and settled into the Macedonia formation; Hinata stood to the front of Tazuna, Naruto to his left, Shino to his right, and Kakashi behind him. They traveled along the dirt road at a civilian speed so as not to leave the old bridge builder behind.

At first, all three genin were relatively excited to leave Konoha for their "first" time; the time they chased Mizuki up to the north of Konoha didn't really count, because they were in a state of emergency. However, traveling at a nice pace on a nice, warm and sunny day, outside of the village, gave them a chance to appreciate the scenery.

Twenty minutes outside of Konoha, they had reached a smaller village known as Nagasaki. Traveling through the village, they had made it across and through it, but after leaving the village was when they first encountered trouble. They had been stopped by a group of ten bandits who had hoped to get some easy money out of them. But when Shino sent his wasps after them, they were dead within seconds.

After that, they traveled throughout several other small towns and villages for three more hours in peace and quiet. The only other eventful thing was that Shino had leveled up for defeating the bandits, and had gained yet another hive of bugs. This hive, however, made Shino a threat to Naruto.

The fifth type of bug Shino had were a specialized type of kikachu. Unlike the regular ones, these kikachu can't drain regular chakra.

They feed specifically upon yokai, the demon chakra.

In other words, Shino had become a real threat to the Jinchuriki of the world; the regular kikachu would drain the human chakra, and when they were forced to call upon the demonic chakra, the other kikachu would drain them of that as well.

The only thing was, Naruto had absorbed and converted seven tails worth of chakra, meaning that he could only draw upon two tails worth of demonic chakra. And that meant that he had too much chakra for several hives of kikachu. So, in actuality, Shino had become a bigger threat, but still wasn't up there.

Anyways, after the three hours were over, they had finally made it into Wave Country.

"We're in Wave Country now!" Tazuna stated proudly.

"Is Wave always covered in fog?" Naruto asked, having noted that fog had settled in about five minutes earlier. It wasn't a hindrance, but it did slightly unnerve him. As a ninja, he couldn't really trust anything…even nature or the weather.

"No, not always, but usually during this time of the year it is foggy." Tazuna replied. A few minutes later, it lifted, revealing several thousands of trees surrounding the path.

After another few minutes of walking, each ninja noticed a puddle on the side of the road.

'_It hasn't rained in a few weeks…so that puddle should have dissolved already.' _they thought simultaneously. The three genin glanced at Kakashi, who shrugged. They relaxed, knowing that he was basically telling them that it was a Genjutsu but to keep up the unsuspecting façade.

As they passed by, two people rose from the puddle. They were almost identical, and wore the Kirigakure headband, but with a slash going horizontally through the center. Silently moving, they quickly wrapped their chain around Kakashi, who appeared stunned. Pulling together, they sliced Kakashi into pieces, and watched as his blood splattered all against the ground.

"One little piggy…" the one to the left said. Shino and Hinata surrounded the stunned bridge builder, while Naruto stepped forward with a growl.

"Gōzu and Meizu, the Demon Brothers of the Mist, two C-ranked chunin missing Nin from Kiri. Why are you two here?" he asked. Meizu, the one to the right, smirked underneath his mask.

"Oh, so the little genin thinks he can play with the big boys, huh? Listen, punk, hand over the old fart (HEY!) over there and we might let you go in peace." he said. Naruto appeared in thought for a second, which scared Tazuna.

"Hmm…nah!" he said as a reinforced clone appeared next to him. Naruto drew his tanto and charged Gōzu, who zigzagged at him, while Meizu headed for the bridge builder, only to meet the clone.

Gōzu released the chain holding him and his twin brother together as several shuriken attempted to impale it and keep them against the tree. He reached Naruto and slashed at the boy, who side stepped through the attack. Inside of Gōzu's guard, he plunged one of his tanto through Gōzu's collarbone. As Gōzu fell to the ground in pain, Naruto tried to finish him off with the second tanto coming down on his neck, but Gōzu miraculously blocked the attack with his gauntlet. Naruto grunted, took his first blade back out, and used chakra to backtrack as the poisoned gauntlet almost clawed his stomach.

He whizzed two shuriken at Gōzu, who managed to stand and block them with the gauntlet. He released the gauntlet to start making hand signs, which Naruto started to do as well by sheathing his swords.

"Water Style: Water Bullet," Gōzu said as he released a flying orb of water at the genin. Naruto jumped up, finally finishing his hand signs and releasing water from a water bottle he had been carrying.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu," he said as the water made a small dragon- only about five feet long. The dragon, though smaller, packed the same punch and was three times faster than the regular sized dragon. It charged at Gōzu, who jumped out of its path, but was knocked out as it twisted and hit him in midair, sending him through several trees along the way.

The clone ducked under a slash and leaned back from Meizu's foot. From his position, he drew a kunai and stabbed in into Meizu's thigh. He stood and was punched away as Meizu flailed wildly in pain. As he did, several flying spiders appeared and started spitting silk at him. They flew around him, wrapping him up, until at last, he was tied up.

"Let me go so I can fucking kill you all!" he snarled as he struggled against the special silk. Naruto cracked a grin in response.

"Telling me that you're going to kill me won't make me come any closer." he stated. As Meizu continued to growl and shout, Kakashi chose that time to show up.

"Hey team, good job in the situation. Naruto, I like how you battled these guys, and Shino and Hinata, you two did well in deciding to immediately guard Tazuna." he said. "If this were a test, you'd all have gotten an A."

Meizu glared at the elite jonin. "How are you still alive?"

Kakashi completely ignored his question and hauled the missing Nin over his shoulder. "You three stay here with Tazuna. I'm going to interrogate Meizu." he said.

"What about Gōzu?" Naruto asked. Kakashi waved his free hand.

"Decapitate him and take his bounty. I believe that its thirty three million for Gōzu and thirty million for Meizu, ne?" he said. Naruto struck a thinking pose.

"That sounds about right." they all turned to the now crying Meizu.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BROTHER, YOU SONS OF-" he screamed through his tears. Kakashi dropped him on his head, effectively silencing him.

"Silence, you." he said while picking him up and walking away. Naruto sent a clone to go finish off Gōzu, and decided to contact Kogeri.

'_Kogeri,' _Naruto thought, contacting her via a mental link he shared with all of his clone commanders. _'How did they get by you?'_

'_I'm good at assassination, not scouting. They weren't there when my squad passed by.' _she responded. Naruto went silent for a second before splitting a mental grin.

'_Kogeri, you're a freaking genius! I could kiss you right now!' _he mentally exclaimed.

"_I'd much rather prefer a lot more than that.' _she whispered seductively. Naruto ignored it, having been used to such behavior from her.

You see, thanks to the generous assets Naruto gave Kogeri, she gained a little bit…wilder side. She hid it behind the mask of seriousness that she wore when having business, but it still existed, venturing out when she and Naruto were alone. Since he was having a private conversation with Kogeri that none of the other clones and even Kyuubi couldn't hear, she was showing that second nature.

'_I'll make a Scouting Division when I get back! Thanks!' _he said.

'_Sure thing, Naruto.' _she said as they both sensed another clone trying to contact him, and thus her slipping back into her professional mask.

'_Hey, boss!' _Jake's voice intoned in Naruto's head.

'_What is it, Jake?' _Naruto asked.

'_We designed that jutsu and a lot of others…like, you have about five new jutsu now. I'm going to dispel the whole division and myself, so you can get all that info and experience.' _he said. Naruto mentally nodded.

'_I think that I could use you as well on this mission.' _Naruto thought before Jake closed the connection. Several seconds later, the information feeding process began. By the minute's end, Naruto knew the five new jutsu that Jake was talking about, and couldn't help but grin.

Jake was the head of the Ninjutsu Division for two reasons. The first reason was that he had an uncanny ability to learn jutsu; it was almost like the Sharingan, but he didn't have to see the jutsu in action. All he needed were the mechanics behind it, and he could pull it off with relative ease.

The second reason was that he was, in every sense, a Ninjutsu genius. Besides the fact that he could learn jutsu at an incredible rate, he had a great and creative imagination. As such, it was no surprise that in a few hours by himself, Jake had created no less than five jutsu.

"Boss?" he heard the clone he sent come back. He turned to it, to see that he had a scroll with the words "Gōzu's Bounty" written on it. He nodded and took the scroll.

"What happened to his body?" he asked. The clone scratched his head sheepishly.

"I didn't know what to do with it." Naruto sighed, dispelled the clone, and summoned Metsui and his Clean-Up Division.

"Guys, I need you to take care of a body about two minutes to the east." he said. The Clean-Up Division was good at cleaning everything and anything up; from dog shit to human corpses, Naruto could depend on them. Metsui nodded as she and a few other clones disappeared from their view.

"So, what do you make of this mission so far?" Naruto asked, leaning against a tree to make himself more comfortable.

"It's got a lot of action...too much action for a C-rank." Shino said. This statement raised both Naruto's and Hinata's suspicion as well.

"That's true...a C-rank only details for bandits, not missing-ninja as well. For the Demon Brothers to actually deem Tazuna important enough to target is questionable for this ranking." Naruto responded.

"Who knows what else we might run into?" Hinata whispered, suddenly feeling a little more scared.

**"I do." **Kyuubi suddenly stated. Naruto stood up straight, giving his attention to the Demon Lord.

_'What is it?' _he asked.

**"There's another demon nearby...he's low ranked in comparasion to me, but your teacher should be able to handle it, albeit with a minimum amount of your help."**

_'Honestly, why does this man have demons after him? I swear, this mission is more trouble than its worth...' _he responded, rather tired and wary of the mission already. He suspected that nothing would get any better as well. He turned to Tazuna just as his sensei arrived back in the clearing, free of an unwilling accomplice.

"Kakashi-sensei, where's the other one?" Naruto asked as he felt Metsui disperse. Apparently, the uses of gasoline were heplful in taking care of a corpse...

"I left him tied to a tree so that the ANBU can come and arrest him. Now," he said, turning to the relieved bridge builder. Naruto, sensing what he was about to say, intoned along with him.

"Care to explain why the Demon Brothers are after you?" they both asked the now suddenly sweating Tazuna, leaking concentrated amounts of killing intention. To his credit, Tazuna held his tongue for a full minute before giving out.

"Alright, I'll tell you. You know Gato, right?" he asked. The three genin shook his head, while Kakashi took on a quizzical expression.

"Gato, as in the CEO of Gato Shipping Corporation?" Kakashi asked. Receiving an affirmitive from the elderly man, he motioned for him to continue on.

"Gato may seem like a respectable person if you have never met him. But in reality, he is one of the biggest mob bosses in the crime underworld." At this revealation, Kakashi's visible eye widened a small amount.

"What do you mean?" he asked, slightly startled by this new development.

"Gato hires missing ninja and bandits to take out those he considers a threat to him." he responded.

"So he considers you a threat to him because you're building a bridge?" Naruto asked, skepetical of the whole idea.

"You don't understand why. About a year ago, Gato decided that he wanted to rule a country. He set his sights upon the small nation of Wave Country. Using his enormous wealth, he hired several thousands of bandits that quickly defeated our samurai and ninja. Our military forces gone, he took over the country and took all of our monetary value from us." Tazuna explained.

"What about the Daimyo?" Shino asked.

"Even he has gone poor! We have lived in extreme poverty for years now, and Wave has lost all of its former glory. The people are depressed, the country is dilapidated, and all because of that fat pig!"

"So why are you building the bridge?" Naruto questioned once more.

"If we can finish this bridge, then we can establish trade with the FIre Country. Gato doesn't want us to get any form of power-wealth included-back, so he's sent assassins after me to halt the progress of this bridge. If you can protect me, you can virtually save this country!" Tazuna said.

"That's nice and all, but why only a C-ranked mission? This is a B-ranked, bordering A-ranked mission. By rule, we are allowed to walk off this mission with the funds that you've paid us." Kakashi stated.

"We couldn't afford anything else." Tazuna replied simply, tears starting to water in his eyes. Kakashi sighed and turned back to his team, who was staring at him with equally blank expressions.

"I'm giving this call to you guys. You demanded this mission, so you get to chose whether you want to complete it." he tells them.

"I'm going to complete this mission. They need our help, and as shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, it is our duty to help them." Shino replied in a monotone.

"I'm going, too." Hinata said. The three turned their glances to Naruto, who had strangely not given his agreement yet.

"..."

"Well?" Kakashi prompted.

"Did you really need to ask?" the Kyuubi Jinchuriki stated. Kakashi sighed.

"Alright, I guess that we continue the mission then." Kakashi stated. Naruto nodded.

"But Kakashi-sensei, we need to be very, very careful from here on out. Kyuubi told me that he senses a demon nearby. He also said that you should be able to defeat him, but I wanted to let you know now instead of then." At this, Kakashi cocked an eyebrow.

"A demon is coming after you?" He asked to the bridge builder.

"I-I-I guess..." he stammered out. Had Gato really wanted him dead that badly to send a demon after him?

Kakashi sighed again. "I swear, life is never simple..."

* * *

><p>About thirty minutes later, the group of five reached the shoreline of an ocean.<p>

"Now what?" Naruto asked.

"We wait for the ferryman to come back." Tazuna stated.

Ten more minutes of waiting later, a hazy figure slowly emerged from the fog covered sea. It drifted towards them like a ghost, ever so slowly. Finally, the figure reached the shoreline, revealing the ferryman with his boat. He motioned for them to come to him and his boat.

Several minutes later, the six were sitting in the middle of the ocean, silent as the ferryman rowed their boat. The tension was thick as the mist grew thicker and thicker. Finally, Hinata could stand the feeling no longer and asked a question.

"Why are we all so silent?" she asked.

"Shhh!" The ferryman hissed at her. "Gato has thugs stationed everywhere! They might hear you!"

No one spoke after that.

* * *

><p>An hour later, after having seen the bridge and disembarking from the boat, the four ninja and the bridge builder silently trekked down the dirt path towards Tazuna's home. The mist and fog had picked up so much that there was barely half a mile of visibility. This unnerved all present. None of them had forgotten Naruto's warning of a demon nearby.<p>

A small rustling in the bush set off Hinata's already very jumpy nerves. She turned and released a kunai in the direction of the foliage. A small squeak was heard before a white rabbit hopped out of the bush, scared to death. Naruto's and Kakashi's eyes instantly narrowed, with Shino's and Hinata's following milliseconds later.

"Kakashi-sensei, if it is the middle of the summer, shouldn't that rabbit have brown fur?" Shino questioned.

The cyclopean jonin nodded curtly at his bug-using student. "If it has white fur, then it's been raised inside..."

"For substitution purposes!" Naruto and Hinata finished at the same time. At that moment, Kogeri rang inside of Naruto's mind.

_"DUCK_!" she screamed. As she said that, a huge blade came flying at Tazuna. Kakashi cursed.

"Hit the floor!" he ordered while diving at the bridge builder. Naruto and Shino jumped over the blade, while Hinata sunk under it. The impact Kakashi had when he hit Tazuna sent both of them rolling away from danger.

The huge blade swerved away from them before digging several inches into a nearby tree, with the hilt sticking out. A man appeared on that hilt. He wore bandages over the bottom half of his face, and had no eyebrows. His Kiri headband hung loosely around his neck. Kakashi growled at the recognition of this man, with Naruto growling a second later, though for much different purposes.

"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Bloody Mist. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Zabuza grinned crazily. "Ah, Kakashi of the Sharingan...I am honored to have the chance to battle with you." he stated. Naruto bristled.

"Kakashi-sensei, this is the demon." he said. But that wasn't what was troubling the young genin. No, the outfit the Demon of the Bloody Mist bore was what troubled him.

Zabuza was wearing a black robe with red clouds.

* * *

><p><strong>End scene!<strong>

**Here you go guys! The beginning of Wave is here, and with it is the introduction of Zabuza.**

**Yes, you have read correctly. Zabuza is an actual demon in my story. But even more, he is a member of the Akatsuki. The reason why will be revealed next chapter, though I suspect it to be easy enough for everyone to figure out.**

**Tune in next time as the Copy Ninja and his genin squad try to defend the bridge builder from the Demon of the Bloody Mist!**

**Please review!**

**Ja ne!**


	6. Chapter 5: Battling Akatsuki

**Hey all, I'm back with the next chapter of The Demon's Blessing!**

**This continues the Wave Arc (obviously).**

**Oh, and guys, do you want me to kill Haku and Zabuza, or keep them alive? If they stay alive, should they come back to Konoha or just do what they do? Drop a review or vote in my new poll.**

**On a completely unrelated note, this story now has as many reviews as my other, which has twice as many chapters as this one. Yay me!  
><strong>

**Alright guys, here we go!**

Zabuza was wearing a black robe with red clouds.

All three ninja and the bridge builder raised an eyebrow at Naruto's reaction. Said blond was shaking with rage.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Kakashi asked.

"Akatsuki." The blond haired genin growled in response.

"What is Akatsuki?" Shino asked, with confusion evident in his rarely emotion-filled voice. Zabuza chuckled, bringing their attention back to him.

"Oh, this is rich! A Jinchuriki is on a team that has no clue of what Akatsuki is about!" he laughed. Everyone narrowed their eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei, do not take him lightly. If he's joined the Akatsuki, then he's got to be an S-class ninja." Naruto warned. Kakashi's eyes widened.

"But he was an A-class ninja in the latest BINGO book…" he said. Zabuza chuckled again.

"Obviously, I have trained relentlessly to join Akatsuki. You're only an A-ranked ninja, Kakashi. You can't defeat me." he said. Kakashi shrugged.

"I won't know until I try, now won't I? Now, back to my main question: What is Akatsuki?" he demanded, drawing a kunai and settling into a defensive stance.

"I will enlighten you. The Akatsuki is a group of S-class ninja that exist for one reason and one reason only: to create worldwide peace." he said.

"BULLSHIT!" Naruto cried. "I call total bullshit. Akatsuki is a terrorist organization that goes around the Elemental Nations, capturing all the Jinchuriki of the Tailed Beasts." he explained. All the ninja immediately tensed, knowing that it meant that Zabuza was after Naruto. The Akatsuki member nodded, showing his acceptance of this answer.

"I expected the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox to know of us. I think you'll be glad to know that we already have the Five Tailed Dolphin Horse in our possession." he stated. Naruto growled.

"Where is your partner? Akatsuki always works in groups of two." he stated. Zabuza shrugged.

"He's around here somewhere."

"_Kogeri." _he stated in his mind, alerting his boss clone.

"_I know. I'm searching for him now." _Kogeri stated in response.

"Enough of this. I presume you are here for Naruto then?" Kakashi said.

"Actually, as everybody does, Akatsuki functions off of money. I was simply on a mission to kill Tazuna over there. The fact that I can go back with the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails is just an added bonus." Zabuza stated. Kakashi moved in front of Naruto, while Shino and Hinata moved to guard Tazuna. Shino released his bugs for extra protection.

"Sorry to disappoint you Zabuza, but you won't be leaving here with anything. Not even with your life." Kakashi said, revealing his Sharingan. Zabuza just chuckled some more.

"Is that so?" As soon as he finished his question, he was in between Shino and Hinata's guard. They both turned, stunned by his sudden movement. Zabuza brought his sword down, ready to cleave the poor bridge builder in half…

* * *

><p>Another boy- fourteen or fifteen, by the looks of it- stood in between some foliage. Like his master, he wore the signature black robe with red clouds of Akatsuki. He watched with an emotionless face as his master brought down his sword upon the bridge builder, only for the blond haired genin to intercept with two of his tanto. Zabuza, however, was stronger and had simply kicked the boy away. The jonin sensei then rushed in, and he and Zabuza engaged in battle, with the three still guarding the old man.<p>

Silently drawing three senbon needles, Haku took time in aiming for the vital spots that would kill the man. After all, no one knew where he was, so they wouldn't be able to sense his attack. And he was confident that no one else was in the area- with the sounds of battle going on, everyone would have fled.

Drawing his arm back in preparation for the throw, his ninja instincts kicked in. He rolled through a bush and leapt into a tree as several arrows and throwing knives came down where he had been standing and where he had rolled to. Glancing up, he saw a group of five clones that looked exactly like the blond. Two of them had bows and arrows, two others had several knives on hand, and the last one held a dagger in front of him.

Again going off of reflex, Haku launched himself into the air. A dart crashed into the branch he had been standing on. To his immense surprise, the tree instantly wilted and the leaves turned a dark purple. All of that happened within three seconds.

Haku glanced off to the left of the main group, and found two more clones. One was a very impressive girl who held a dagger in front of her. Her bow and arrows were strapped to her back, and several knives hung within a pocket. The other clone held a pipe near his mouth, poised straight at Haku's head.

The young boy gasped as he saw the girl's magnificent body. She had a perfect face, the most beautiful hair, the brightest eyes...she had everything. Unable to help himself, his eyes traveled downward towards her large chest. Kogeri saw this and crossed her arms under her massive breasts, making them appear larger than they already were.

Kogeri smirked. As an assassin, two of her biggest tools were seduction and Genjutsu. With seduction, she could easily extract info from her target and kill them when they were distracted by her beauty. With her Genjutsu, she could easily make someone kill themself, or at the very least delay them until she killed them.

When she combined them, however, she could get the results Haku was experiencing. She had to admit though, he was fighting the Genjutsu better than anyone ever placed under it before. And considering that she worked part time as a hunter nin and other times simply as an assassin for hire, she had placed it on a fair amount of people.

Deciding to make sure that the Akatsuki member would die here, she stalked over to the very unfocused boy. He managed, however, to make her out as a threat.

"S-stay away f-f-from me! I d-dont want to hurt you!" Haku stammered out. Kogeri smirked. This one was in the bag.

Standing directly in front of the boy, Kogeri grabbed both his hands gently and slowly started bringing them up to her large, juicy breasts. "I doubt that you will want to hurt me."

Haku's hands were three centimeters away.

Two centimeters away.

One centimeter away. His pinky brushed the side of her left breast.

As soon as he committed that act, Kogeri quickly twisted her body and Haku's arms. Before he could realize what was happening, Kogeri held both of his arms behind his back. A dart flew straight and true, and nailed Haku in the center of the forehead. The boy stopped moving, before falling to the ground below. When he hit it, he dispersed into a puddle of water.

Cursing at her failed ploy, she automatically turned with her dagger drawn once more. Slicing at the paper thin needle aimed for the juglar at her throat, she cursed as two other clones behind her were taken down by the needles. Turning quickly to face her remaining troops, she saw the poison dart clone get stabbed through the gut, dispelling that one. The other three had needles sticking through their eyes before they dispelled as well, leaving Kogeri and Haku.

"How did you break the Genjutsu?" she demanded, holding the dagger in front of her in a defensive stance. If he broke her Genjutsu, he was at least a jonin in skills. And while she was confident she could handle a jonin, she-like all the others-were clones. They weren't indestructible; they were just stronger. But sooner or later, she would lose.

Haku smiled just a little bit, showing true emotions. "Though you are very pretty, I am very good at detecting and breaking Genjutsu." Kogeri merely growled in response. Haku's smile disappeared from his face as a kunai shot from his right sleeve into his hand.

In a second, metal clashing against metal was heard throughout the forest.

* * *

><p>Naruto smirked slightly as the sound of the battle he was in was accompianed by the sounds of the second battle that had just started. That either meant that Kogeri had found the second Akatsuki member, or that she had found another person that was unwelcome.<p>

His smirk disappeared as he watched Kakashi get kicked to the side yet again. The jonin sensei had several small and shallow cuts on his arms and legs. There was also a large slash going through his vest and shirt, but there was no visible wound. Zabuza, on the other hand, sported one large cut across the chest. His Akatsuki robe had long been discarded, revealing navy blue pants and his bare chest.

Naruto watched as Kakashi hopped back at Zabuza, only to jump up as Zabuza's blade almost cut him in half. The jonin launched three kunai at Zabuza, but the demon had knocked them aside with his large sword. Kakashi landed about ten feet away from Zabuza, kneeling on his right knee.

Naruto appeared right in front of Kakashi just in time. Zabuza had ran directly at the man, ready to decapitate him. Naruto held his blades out, ready to block the attack. As Kakashi dropped down to dodge, however, Naruto found himself thrown through the air and landing in the lake with a large _BOOM._

_'HOLY SHIT he's strong!_' Naruto thought as he resurfaced in time to see Kakashi get trapped within a water dome.

"Naruto, I want you to hold off Zabuza while the others escape! Then run! You guys don't stand a chance against him." Kakashi ordered.

"No way, sensei. Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash." Naruto recited. Zabuza sneered.

"Pathetic." And with that said, he created several water clones. Five headed for the bridge builder, while the other five charged Naruto.

The blond Jinchuriki back pedaled, channeling chakra into his two blades.

"Two Sword Style: Double Chakra Blade Slash!" he said, swiping at the clones. Two blades of chakra each flew from a tanto. Three of the clones were dispersed from not having reacted enough. The fourth had simply cut through the attac, while the fifth kept moving because he had not been targeted.

Naruto ran in a burst of speed and quickly slashed one clones down. The final clone swung his heavy blade at Naruto. The blond rolled under the slice and stood, ready to decapitate the clone. The clone, however, spun around with his blade, both effectively dodging the attack and attempting at slicing Naruto in half.

The blond did a front flip, jumping over the attack while slicing at the Zabuza clones. The clone managed to dodge the first sword, but the second sword sliced the left arm off. Having taken too much damage, the clone fell apart in a heap.

* * *

><p>Shino cursed and released his demonic kikachu bugs as the five Zabuza clones ringed around the two genin and the bridge builder. They were surrounded, and that was never really a good thing.<p>

One of the five ran in as the other four adjusted the shape to make a square. The wasps and demonic bugs swarmed the clone. The clone managed to cut through a few wasps, but quickly enough the bugs took the clone down.

Only then, when Hinata gasped, did Shino pay attention to the four clones that had not attacked yet. And when he saw them, he nearly peed his pants.

Each clone had the famous sword stuck into the soil next to it. The clones themselves had just finished making hand signs. Above each clone, a large, blackfire dragon floated.

"Demon Skill: Blackfire Dragon (1)!" Each clone roared before falling into puddles, having poured all of the chakra Zabuza had proivded them with into the attack. The dragons roared so loudly that Kakashi's Chidori sounded like a whisper, and then they charged, all intent on destroying them.

Suddenly, a blur appeared right in front of Shino, just finishing hand signs.

"Shadow Dome: Ultimate Protection!" Naruto stated. Every shadow in a twenty foot radius contorted to Naruto's will until a dome of shadows surrounded the group. Each dragon flew directly into the dome, giving off the impression that they had simply phased right through the shadows. Naruto knew, however, that the shadows had absorbed the attacks.

As the dome fell back into shadows, Naruto knelt on one knee, breathing somewhat heavily. The Shadow Dome always took a lot out of him, for no real reason other than it had a very high chakra consumption demand.

"Are you ok, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. Naruto nodded and stood back up, already doing hand signs.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu," he said. Several small fireballs flew from his mouth, covering a wide area. Zabuza cursed, realizing that he had to let go of the dome to even hope of surviving the barrage. And so he did.

Having sliced through the last attack, he was about to go and chop the genin in half when he felt a knife at his throat. A head-Kakashi's head, to be more specific- leaned into his ear.

"Don't forget...your opponent is me." he said.

Zabuza just responded by falling into a puddle of water.

* * *

><p>Kogeri cursed as she fell to one knee, breathing very heavily. Haku had stuck her with several senbon. She also had a few slashes here and there.<p>

Haku smiled at her apologetically. "I'm sorry that I put you through this, but you are a threat...and threats must be eliminated." With that, he tossed one of the few kunai he carried with him at Kogeri's head, striking her through the brain and dispelling her.

He turned back towards the battle at hand to see that his master was about to be taken out by the Copy Ninja.

"Kuso!" he whispered to himself before disappearing in a blur.

* * *

><p>Kakashi and Zabuza separated from the clash yet again. Unexplicably, the Copy Ninja had picked up his game when fatigue was setting in, and was now able to keep up with the S-class ninja that was Zabuza Momochi.<p>

Zabuza knew that he was running low on chakra, and needed to end the battle fast. Now was as good a time as ever. Placing the large blade on his back, he began a long series of hand signs.

Kakashi saw this and also started hand signs, though he was doing it slightly faster. But since he was a few hand signs behind, the two high class ninja finished at the exact same time.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu," they exclaimed. At once, the nearby water started to stir violently until two identical beasts made of water stood above their creator. Each beast roared once before proceeding to demolish each other. As the rain fell, Zabuza started another long set of seals that he knew would be his last jutsu.

He grinned as he noticed that Kakashi was several hand signs slower than him. He only had five more hand signs left to do-

"Demon Skill: Uprising of the Dead!" Naruto called out. Immediately, three skeletons burst from the water Zabuza was standing on and tried to confine him with their bones. Zabuza, one with quick reflexes, immediately cut the chakra from his feet to dodge the attack. Only then did he realize that Kakashi was still continuing the jutsu and that he had stopped.

"Water Style: Water Vortex Jutsu!" Kakashi's distorted voice said from above the water.

Now, many people would think that the top half of the Water Vortex Jutsu would be the worse part. But, as Zabuza can now tell you, the half under water is the part you don't want to be in. While the top half simply blows you around and away, the bottom half drags you in like a vortex.

Of course, then there's the constant pounding of the water, the fact that he couldn't breath, and the sheer pressure being put on his body.

Almost as quickly as it came, it ended. The bottom half also destabilized, rocketing Zabuza through the water until he crashed into a tree that was somehow still standing underwater. The water subsided enough for Zabuza to breathe and see again.

The sight he saw wasn't really pretty. Several ICE wolves, along with Naruto clones were circling him slowly and deliberately. Kakashi stood above him, Chidori posed to strike him through the heart.

"I-Ice wolves? H-how?" Zabuza asked. Kakashi shrugged.

"I don't really know, but I don't really care. All I care about...is your death!" he said. Before he could ram his hand through Zabuza's heart though, a very large roar distracted everybody but Zabuza, who grinned.

A thirty foot tall salamander roared once more, destroying basically anything and everything in its wake. Tazuna had been removed from the battlefield by Naruto, however, so there was no concern of failing the mission.

Before Kakashi could turn back around however, a hand chopped him in the back of the neck, causing him to fall into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>"What the fuck?" Naruto cursed as the salamander shot an ice beam out of its mouth, freezing a large area of land and several clones. A few of his ice wolves attacked the thing, but its tail had simply shattered them into oblivion.<p>

"Crap!" Shino said as he noticed Haku standing over the fallen form of the Hatake. The Aburame reacted quickly, sending a stream of kikachu from his sleeve at the ninja preparing to cut Kakashi's head off. The ninja cursed and launched the kunai at the bugs before grabbing Zabuza and shushining off.

"Hinata! Protect Kakashi-sensei! Shino, help me take this thing down!" Naruto said as he raced forward, followed by the Aburame heir. Hinata backtracked, heading for her downed sensei.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Shino stopped about fifty feet in front of the large salamander, not risking getting any closer. Naruto did several hand signs, while Shino released all of his bugs at once.<p>

"Summoning Jutsu!" he stated. In a large puff of smoke, a very large toad appeared. Its back covered by a large blue jacket, the toad had a pipe sticking out of its mouth. Sheathed on its side was a tanto-granted, it was several hundred times larger than a human tanto, but a tanto none-the-less. A large scar ran downward across one of the toad's big yellow eyes.

**"JIRAIYA! Why have you summoned me?"** The large toad bellowed. The trees nearby rocked violently, almost ready to fall.

"Sorry for summoning you, Lord Gamabunta...but as you can see, there's a rather large salamander here, and I thought that you might want to make a wallet out of it." Naruto stated.

**"Oh, it's you, gaki! Who else is up there! I'm not a taxi, you know**?" The boss toad stated. Naruto glanced over to Shino, who was shivering quite a lot. Only then did he remember that Shino was an Aburame, and that he had summoned a toad.

"Uh, he's a teammate of mine. Listen, the salamander can shoot ice beams somehow." Naruto said.

**"Whatever. Get ready, because I'm about to jump**!" Gamabunta warned.

"Wha-" Shino said before Gamabunta propelled himself into the air. Naruto, luckily, had anchored himself with chakra and had grabbed hold of Shino before he could fall off.

**"TAKE THIS**!" Gamabunta screamed, drawing his tanto. The large amphibian fell from the sky, slicing downward in an attempt to kill the salamander.

The animal was smart enough to realize Gamabunta as a threat, apparently. The large tail rose up and grasped the blade right before it cut through the animal. Gamabunta landed, while Naruto raced up his head and then leapt off.

In midair, Naruto's Rinnegan activated. Flipping through hand signs, Naruto finished his jutsu and called out its name.

"Demon Skill: Hell Flame Blast!" he said, firing off a large blast of white fire at the salamander.

The salamander fired a large ball of ice at the the blast of fire. The fire burnt through it easily, but was still delayed by the attack. That gave the opposing animal enough time to yank Gamabunta's blade from the large toad and fling it into Naruto's attack, both disarming the great toad and deflecting the attack.

Gamabunta hopped back, grabbing Naruto with his tongue and placing him back on top of his head next to Shino.

"Crap! Hey, Bunta, give me oil! Shino, set me up with the wind!" Naruto demanded, already starting his short chain of hand seals. Gamabunta spat out a large amount of oil, while Shino finished his hand signs.

"Fire Style: Toad Flaming Bomb!" Naruto said, lighting the oil with flames.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Shino performed, fanning the flames and making them burn even hotter. The salamander hissed in pain as the whole area around it exploded in sizzling heat and flames.

When the flames finally died down, however, only the skin of the salamander remained.

"Do salamanders even shed their skin?" Naruto questioned. He got no answer, however, because said salamander appeared behind the toad.

"Jump!" Naruto said. The large toad did so just in time, because the salamander shot out a blast of fire instead of ice this time.

"Crap!" Naruto cursed. Gamabunta started doing his own hand signs.

**"Take this! Water Style: Gunshot**!" The large toad exclaimed before firing three large orbs of water. The salamander stabbed through the first and turned the second into ice, but the third hit the salamander in its midsection, causing it to fall over.

"There! Lightning Style: False Darkness!" Naruto said, firing a spear of lightning out of his mouth. The lightning blast connected with the wet area of the salamander, shocking him up and down. The salamander hissed and stumbled around, knocking trees and splashing water around.

"We've got him on the ropes! Demon Skill: Summoning: Harbringer of Death!" Naruto announced.

The air turned freezing cold, and the mist swirled into a large skeletal figure. It was easily as tall as Gamabunta, wearing a black robe with the hood raised so that the face was unseeable. The figure also hefted the classical scythe on his shoulder. As soon as he appeared, trees in a three mile radius wilted and died.

The figure swiped at the downed salamander, cutting its tail off. The salamander hissed, but was silenced almost immediately as the figure then kicked it in the ribcage, lifting the several ton beast off the ground. As it floated in midair, the figure then sliced the salamander's head off. The summon dispersed as the figure disappeared.

"It was just a summon! Who the fuck has the salamander summoning contract, besides Hanzo the Salamander?" Naruto said angrily.

* * *

><p>Haku sneezed and almost fell off his ride as his salamander darted through the forest. Zabuza lay dazed behind him, held by a water clone.<p>

"Haku...where are we?" Zabuza slurred, almost like a drunken sailor.

"We are on one of my salamanders. We had to flee the battle, because the Hatake had taken you down, and before I could finish him off, the Aburame noticed me. He sent his bugs after me, and I had to flee for risk of messing up the operation. I left another summon behind to wreck havoc and delay their hunt for us." Haku said.

"That salamander contract saved us again, hasn't it...Pein-sama blessed us with this." Zabuza replied, thinking back.

_Flashback_

_Haku and Zabuza kneeled side by side, sweating and bleeding profusely. Their opponent, wielder of the Rinnegan, stood feet from them, not even having broken a sweat. Behind him stood three more bodies, each with the Rinnegan as well. They all shared orange hair and had piercings through their body._

_"You say that you are willing to join us to hunt down the Mizukage, the Sanbi Jinchuriki. You can't even beat four of the Paths of Pein. You will die fighting the Mizukage in this state. Is that what you want?" Pein droned. Haku growled loudly and stood up, doing a large set of hand signs._

_"Ice Style: Frost Breath!" Haku said. He blew out a large amount of cold air that immediately turned the air cold and misty. The nearby Konan and Itachi shivered. They were watching because if Zabuza and Haku passed, then with Orochimaru, there would be twelve members. Konan and Itachi, two of the strongest members of the group, would be paired with Pein. Sasori, Deidara, and Kisame would be another. Hidan, Kakuzu and Orochimaru would be the final group. Zabuza and Haku could operate with Zetsu if needed, but it was more likely that they would end up together as a duo rather than a trio._

_"Ice Style: Frozen Wolf Hunting Pack!" Haku continued. Several ice wolves appeared around Haku and ran into the mist, ready to take down Pein._

_"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu," Zabuza said as a water dragon appeared behind him._

_"Ice Style: Frost Breath!" Haku said again. He breathed onto the dragon, causing it to freeze over but not lose control and turn into an ice sculpture. Zabuza sent his now icy dragon into the mist towards their opponent._

_"Shinra Tensei." They heard him whisper. The mist cleared, the wolves were flung away, but the dragon was unharmed. It was batted off to the side, but rammed and froze over the Naraka Path. The Deva Path raised a brow at that._

_"I suppose that managing to freeze one of my bodies is a large accomplishment, as I am god...I think that you pass. Welcome to Akatsuki." The Deva Path monotoned while the Preta Path went over and drained the chakra from the ice, shattering it and freeing the Naraka Path. Haku and Zabuza grinned before both fell over, exhausted._

_"Konan, take care of them. Itachi, come with me." The blue haired lady moved over to the two exhausted missing ninja, while Itachi followed his leader wordlessly._

* * *

><p><em>Haku and Zabuza bolted awake at the same time, both jumping up and out of their bed. Realizing that they had no idea where they were, both grabbed their preferred weapons; Zabuza grabbed the hilt of his Decapitating Carving Knife, while Haku lunged and grabbed his holster of senbon needles. Armed, they slowly made their way to the door, until it burst open, showing Kisame followed by Itachi and Konan.<em>

_Zabuza smirked. "So this is where you went, Kisame sempai." _

_Kisame grinned in response at seeing his long lost pal. "Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Mist. Welcome to the club!" he exclaimed, moving towards his former Seven Swordsman. Before they could reach each other, however, Konan coughed, interrupting the moment._

_"Welcome to the Akatsuki. Our goal is to capture all the Tailed Beasts. Your primary assignment, as you desired, is the Sanbi Jinchuriki, Yagura of the Mist. Secondry assignments are the other Tailed Beasts and targets on other side missions. Here are your cloaks. You'll meet everyone else later. My name is Konan, and he is Itachi," she said, motioning to the extremely emotionless male that was staring at them with the famous Sharingan._

_"Hello!" Haku said cheerily. In response, a large scroll hit him in the head. He glared at the person who threw the scroll. Itachi stood there, looking at her with arms outstrecthed. Konan and Kisame chuckled at his antics. For the second most mature Akatsuki member- Pein being the first- Itachi was a big troublemaker._

_"That is your summoning contract gifted to you by your new leader. He has given you the contract of the salamander, a spoil of battle he received when he single-handedly overthrew Hanzo the Salamander." Itachi stated, lazily twirling a kunai on his right index finger. _

_"Why did he-"_

_"He wants you to get stronger."_

_"But aren't we-"_

_"No, you're not strong enough yet."_

_"Can you-"_

_"I'd stop interrupting you if you weren't so predictable." _

_All of the other occupants of the room laughed while Haku fumed. The Uchiha gave the smallest of smiles._

* * *

><p><em>Flashback end<em>

"...Yeah, this really saved us this time didn't it?" Haku asked. Zabuza merely nodded.

"So do we contact Pein-sama?"

"I guess." Haku solemnly replied.

* * *

><p>"Tsunami! Inari! I'm home!" Tazuna shouted as he barged down the door. Following him, Shino and Naruto carried the unmoving body of their sensei. Hinata quietly slipped in, Byakugan still active in case of emergency or a sneak attack.<p>

"Dad! Who are these people?" Tsunami exclaimed, rushing in only to stop at the sight of the ninja.

"We are ninja hired by your father to protect him while he finishes building the bridge-"

"It's worthless! You'll all die!" a small boy shouted from up the stairs before running back away. Tsunami rubbed the back of her head in embarrasment and sadness.

"That's my son, Inari...please excuse him, he's just rather emotional because of all the tough times we've faced recently." she explained. Shino nodded.

"Do you have a spare room where we could put our sensei to rest? He's suffering from exhaustion." Shino explained.

"Oh." Tsunami said with a blush, showing that she only now noticed the masked ninja. "Yes, we have a few rooms were you can stay. Please, follow me." Shino and Naruto nodded and took their teacher up the stairs.

When they came back down, they sat together in the living room, watching out the window for any attackers. Unbeknowest to everyone else but Naruto, Kogeri and three clones sat in the shadows, ready to act. Another two stood outside, ready to alert Naruto in case of emergency.

"So Naruto, since you're obviously team leader here, what do you guys plan to do?" Tsunami asked after coming back downstairs from checking on Kakashi.

Naruto glanced at her for a second. "I think that Kakashi-sensei will train either Shino or Hinata a few days for the next two weeks, or at least until Zabuza shows up for round two. He knows that I could hold off Zabuza and send him a message at the same time, so I'll most likely always be on guard duty. He'll then train one of us for a day, and the other will most likely join me on guard duty. But until he wakes up, we'll all just guard him."

Tsunami nodded her acceptance at his answer and returned to her father. The three genin spent the rest of the day training for the inevitable battle that was soon to come.

* * *

><p><strong>End scene!<strong>

**Next chapter is mainly filler, but it wil have more interactions between Naruto and Hinata. Yay NaruHina! Other than that, we'll see some teacher-student bonding and Pein's decision.**

**Thanks to The Lunar 9 Tailed Fox, who has helped me come up with Naruto's final four contracts. Though he only has three slots, one will be replaced by another. That one won't go to waste, either; instead, someone else will get them. **

**See ya later!**


	7. Chapter 6: Bonding

**Sup guys! ILoveThisStory2 here with the next chapter of The Demon's Blessing! Yeah!**

**By the way, the Demon Skill: Blackfire Dragon from last chapter belongs to Devil Keyz Writing, not me.**

**Like I said, this is mainly a filler chapter. This is showing Naruto and Hinata interact and get closer, Shino and Kakashi, Naruto and Kakashi, Hinata and Kakashi, Shino and Hinata, and Shino and Naruto. **

**Also in this chapter, Pein and the rest of Akatsuki will appear.**

**Oh, and by the way, the Sasuke Retrieval Arc (yes, it will happen) will be so different from canon that it is almost original. Okay, maybe not original, but there will be several different things.**

**Ok, enough chit-chat. Let chapter 6 (I think, I don't remember) begin!**

Two days after the squad of ninja and bridge builder had arrived; Kakashi had finally awakened from his chakra exhaustion-induced sleep. True to Naruto's predictions, Kakashi had promised to train Shino and Hinata on alternate days, while the other would join Naruto on guard duty. The only difference was that on Saturday and Sunday, all of Team Seven would be on guard duty.

Of course, however, that didn't mean that Naruto wasn't doing any training. Between Hyousake, Anju, Shika, and Lisa training in Konoha, and his other clones working on making some explosive tags and storage seals, he was working on his ninja skills. The real Naruto spent his days sitting in a nearby tree or on some construction equipment, watching the proceedings. He knew that one hundred clones would not equal the real thing, which is why he actually spent the day there and didn't leave a clone in his place.

He watched with a little interest as three of his clones hefted a large metal beam and almost fell over from the sheer weight. Fortunately for them, Tazuna and a few other workers grabbed the girder as well.

"Your clones sure are useful." Hinata stated as she hopped up to sit beside him. He raised an eyebrow at her. It was the first time he had been alone with her in a while.

"I guess…until they start to mouth off at me for making them do all the labor." he responded. Hinata giggled, to which Naruto grinned at. Her giggles were soft and cute.

"Then why don't you help them?" she asked. He shrugged and lay on his back instead, gazing at the clouds.

"Nah. I don't feel like it." Hinata giggles once more and lies beside him.

* * *

><p>Shino groaned silently and struggled back to his feet once more. He stood and looked around for his target. Suddenly, however, he was hit in the gut and flung through the air, crashing through trees. Kakashi appears before him, knife to the throat.<p>

"I win." He says with an eye smile. Shino groaned again and took his sensei's offered hand.

"So what do I need to work on?" Shino asked. Kakashi struck a thinking pose.

"You rely too heavily on your clan techniques. As Naruto has told me, you are a Wind type. My suggestion is to find Asuma Sarutobi when you go back to Konoha. He is the only Wind type besides Naruto that I know of, and I don't think that Naruto is a really great teacher…but you might want to approach him anyway." Shino nodded, but then set his sights on a bug that he had never seen before. Kakashi followed his gaze to the beetle.

"What is that?" Kakashi asked. Shino scoffed.

"I don't think you'd understand anything I told you about bugs, Kakashi-sensei." The scarecrow like man shrugged and eye smiled.

"Still, every day you learn something new." Shino smiled a little under his coat, though no one could see it, anyway.

"Well…"

* * *

><p>Naruto sighed as he knocked on the front door to Tazuna's house. He had Hinata on his back, piggyback style. After guarding the bridge and having many humorous conversations with Naruto for ten straight hours, she had fallen asleep. It was now something akin to ten at night.<p>

The door swung open to reveal Kakashi, who lazily looked at him carry Hinata into the house, before climbing up the stairs. The jonin followed them up the stairs and peeked through Hinata's door. Naruto set her down on her bed, and then lightly kissed her on the cheek. That almost made Kakashi stumble through the door in shock, but he simply walked back down the stairs.

Less than a minute later, his blond charge came back down the stairs, looking only slightly tired. Kakashi smiled underneath his mask.

"Aww, does Naru-kun like Hina-chan?" Kakashi asked. Naruto blushed very slightly and replied almost instantly.

"S-shut up!" The blond haired genin sunk into the shadows, leaving Kakashi to laugh.

* * *

><p>The next day, Shino and Naruto found themselves in Home Base in the Shadow Realm.<p>

"Shouldn't we be guarding Tazuna instead of being here?" Shino questioned. Naruto shrugged.

"I left several clones, Jake and Kogeri, and their divisions there. That should be enough for almost anything." Naruto said. Shino nodded in acceptance.

"So why are we here again?"

"We need to kill and capture a few pigs, cows, sheep and horses." Naruto answered. "The pigs can provide us with bacon, ham and other meats, as well as leather. The Shadow Realm pigs have leather that keep you warm in the fiercest snowstorm in the Land of Snow and keep you cool in the fiercest sandstorm of the Land of Wind. The cows from here produce three times more milk as our cows, and the milk contains several more nutrients that make us healthier. The sheep from here have very valuable wool that adapts to all different kinds of weather and can be sold for a very generous price. Finally, the horses from here are very strong and fast. We could literally travel from Konoha to Suna in a day and a half with these horses."

Shino listened in awe. The Shadow Realm just seemed to have better everything, it seemed.

"So do you want me to send my bugs after them, or are we just using our shuriken and knives?" Shino queried once more.

"We're going to do it Old School style."

"What do you mean by that?"

Naruto bit his thumb, drawing blood, and dragged it across the biceps of his left arm. Almost immediately, several things popped out of it. Two bows were the first to fall out, shortly followed by a two quivers full of arrows. A couple of lassos and small, red and white capsules were the final items to drop out.

"We will use the bows and arrows to kill or hurt an animal. The lassos are for impeding the movement of the horses. The small capsules-they go by the name "Pokeballs," for whatever reason-capture an animal. Once captured, they usually bend to your will. And if you shoot an animal but it doesn't die, give a short prayer to Kami before slicing its throat. I made the mistake of not doing that once, and I ended up with food poisoning." Naruto said. Shino nodded, slung the quiver over his shoulders, picked up his bow, and notched an arrow at a nearby tree. Letting it fly, he smirked as it hit the dead center of the tree.

"You know, if you can channel your Wind chakra into the arrow, you can virtually guarantee a kill, since it will just go through your target anyway, right?" Naruto asked. Shino raised an eyebrow and did as Naruto said to a tree next to the first. He watched in satisfaction, though with a small hint of disappointment, as the arrow smashed through the tree bark in a rough manner, unbefitting of a Wind user.

"You just need more practice." Naruto said. The two nodded and stealthily moved into the plains, where all their targets were.

Having decided to go for the horses first, Naruto swung his lasso and looped it around the legs of a horse that had not been paying attention. It tried to run, but only fell over. A Pokeball then hit it square on the top of the head, capturing the horse. Naruto and Shino repeated the process about five more times before moving on to the sheep.

Notching three arrows at once, Naruto killed three sheep by puncturing their hearts at the same time. A short second later, another solo arrow plowed straight through the head of a fourth sheep. A fifth, sixth, and seventh tried to flee while it could, but three more arrows found its way into their right hind leg, knocking the animal over and preventing it from fleeing. The eight and final sheep almost got away, but another arrow blasted through a lung, almost instantly killing the sheep. Naruto and Shino moved over to the still surviving three and with the help of a clone, said a prayer and killed the final ones. Naruto sealed them within a storage scroll and moved over to the cows with Shino in tow.

Two of the cows fell dead at the same time, as Shino's invisible mosquitoes had drained them of their life blood. A third noticed this and went over to the other two, but a knife to the forehead stopped it in its track. Ten more tried to flee, but Naruto was already on them.

"Demon Skill: Mass Uprising of the Dead!" he said. All around him, about thirty skeletal figures rose up and grabbed hold of cattle. Several more arrows rained down, killing them. The final two that hadn't died by arrow had their necks snapped by the skeletons, which then returned to the Underworld. Again, the cow corpses were sealed into a storage scroll.

Finally at the pigs, Naruto decided just to get it over with. Counting thirty of them in all, he created twenty eight clones. He, the clones, and Shino all notched and fired a wind infused arrow, killing each pig. Naruto smirked as his clones rounded up the corpses and sealed them away.

'_Hmm…a Scouting Division and a Long-Range Support Squad…' _he pondered. He was now seriously considering creating an archery division, which would prove to be greatly beneficial to his cause.

'_Now that I'm at it, I could possibly make a few spearmen divisions…though I would need to learn how to use a spear effectively. Yes, a Kenjutsu Division, a Spear Division, and an Archer Division…nice.' _He inwardly cackled. He resumed thought back on the outside world and turned to his teammate, who was staring at him.

"Now what?" Shino asked. Naruto shrugged and waved a hand. Almost instantly, a small training ground appeared in the middle of the plains.

"Want to spar?" Naruto asked. Shino grinned and charged at his teammate.

* * *

><p>Hinata fell to the ground again before rebounding and hopping away as a lightning lion pounced at her. She twisted around and away from it and struck at it with the typical Gentle Fist strike. However, because she did so, the creature blew up in a shower of sparks, which both shocked and paralyzed Hinata. In that one second, Kakashi appeared and booted her about thirty feet away. She landed rather painfully, not able to battle anymore.<p>

"I…yield." Hinata said laboriously. It wasn't anything serious, but her sensei had her pinned. She also had several bruises and a few cuts that were severely hindering movement, though she was still as graceful as a gazelle. Kakashi eye smiled and pulled her up.

"You did pretty well. Like Shino, however, you rely too much on clan techniques. And it seems that your Gentle Fist style is wrong." Kakashi noted. Hinata hung her head.

"Indeed. I can't quite get the hang of the Gentle Fist, for whatever reason…" Hinata trailed off at seeing her sensei handing her a piece of paper.

"What is this?" she asked as she took it from him.

"It's called chakra paper. When you channel chakra into it, you can discover what elemental affinity you have. If it burst into flames, you have a Fire affinity. If it is torn into shreds, you have Wind. Crumbling into dust signals an Earth affinity, while crumpling shows a Lightning affinity. Finally, if it turns soggy, you are a Water user." Kakashi explained. Hinata nodded and channeled chakra into her paper.

Almost at once, her paper turned very soggy. Blue clear water gushed out of it as she squeezed the wet piece of paper in her hand.

"Well," Kakashi started with a risen eyebrow. "I think I know why you cannot perform the Gentle Fist as well as everyone else. The Hyugas are traditionally an Earth style clan, and their Gentle Fist was a taijutsu stance built off of that. Since you have a Water affinity-and a rather strong one, at that- the standard katas of the Gentle Fist don't fit you. When you get back to Konoha, you should ask your father to search the archives about past Hyugas who had your problem, as there are bound to be at least two of them."

Hinata nodded her head in understanding. "But what about right now? What will you teach me here?"

Kakashi thought for a second before responding. "Run up and down that tree until you can't do it anymore. After that, come back in and regain your chakra before doing so again. Once you do that, use your Byakugan to see if anything has changed. If your chakra coils have grown larger, then come back to me. If not, then keep at it until they grow a sufficient amount."

Hinata nodded and started running up and down the tree, while Kakashi chuckled and brought out his book.

* * *

><p>In a dark and dingy cave, several transparent figures gathered on a large statue. There were eleven in total; one on each figure, and the final standing on the statue's head.<p>

"What is it now?" a large figure leaning on a bandaged object drawled lazily.

"Yeah, Jashin-sama will not be pleased that I stopped in the middle of his ritual!" another figure said, a large, three- bladed scythe slung on his back.

"Silence. Pein-sama wishes to speak now." a third figure, this one female, stated.

Several sets of eyes turned to the male who was standing on top of the statue.

"…Zabuza and Haku have stumbled upon the Kyuubi Jinchuriki on their mission in the Land of Waves." he said. A small wave of murmurs was brought about by this.

"Are you positive?" a man with red eyes and three black tomoes inside of those eyes asked. Haku shook his head.

"He all but told us that he was the Jinchuriki. When Zabuza mentioned Akatsuki, he tensed up in preparation for battle, and then his jonin sensei moved to protect the boy, as if we were there to target him."

"Is this jonin anyone we should be worried about?" another figure asked. To everyone else, however, they knew he was asking about whether he was in the BINGO book or not, and if so, what was his bounty.

"…It is Kakashi of the Sharingan." Haku said once more. This caused another small murmur through the group, which was stopped by Pein.

"Where are your current locations?" he asked.

"Haku and I are at Gatou's hideout in Wave." Zabuza grunted.

"Kisame and I are in the Hot Springs Country." Itachi drawled monotonously.

"We are still in Claw Country, hunting the Rokubi." Kakuzu stated, while Hidan looked at his reflection in his scythe.

"Per your orders, Deidara and I are in Honey Country." Sasori said.

"I am still in Demon Country." Zetsu added.

"Konan, I presume that you are in Sky Country…and I am still here in Ame." Pein mused. "That would mean that Kisame and Itachi are the closest to Wave…but it would still take you two about a week and a half to get there."

"Actually, we are on the shores of Hot Spring right now. I can get us to Wave in a few days." Kisame stated.

"But I want only one of you to go. The other will stay put until the second gets back." Pein said. "Kisame, you would be logical because of your high chakra stores and the fact that water is everywhere for you to use. But at the same time, with Kakashi there, the best choice to fight him is Itachi."

The group sat in silence for a while, debating who would be the best to send.

"Hmm…very well. Kisame and Itachi, you two have been reassigned to capture the Kyuubi. Zabuza and Haku, complete your mission and then back up Kisame and Itachi if they request it. You will strike in two weeks. Dismissed." Pein ordered. The other ten nodded and disappeared. All was silent until another figure appeared-he, too, bore the Akatsuki robe, but he hadn't been present during the meeting. An orange spiraling mask covered his face from view.

"Are you sure that is wise? I am confident that Zabuza and Haku are enough." the masked man stated. Pein shrugged in indifference.

"Zabuza and Haku mean very little to this organization, as does Hidan. I am only worried for Itachi and Kisame; they are two of the most valuable members of the group." Pein stated before disappearing. The masked figured looked at where he stood for a second before he, too, disappeared.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, all of Team Seven stood guard at the almost completed bridge, with Naruto and Kakashi on one side and Shino and Hinata on the other.<p>

"So how's the bridge been?" Kakashi said as he watched a few clones grabbed a plank of wood.

"Pretty good, if I do say so myself. I had to leave clones here once to go and gather materials, but apparently Akatsuki doesn't have any spies here to report when I'm here or not, because they hadn't attacked then."

Kakashi nodded acceptance at the answer and turned back towards watching the bridge.

Meanwhile, Shino and Hinata sat side by side, just watching everything pass by and talking occasionally.

"Anything exciting happen recently?" Hinata asked. Shino shrugged.

"I guess hunting down some Shadow Realm animals and sparring with Naruto counts as exciting. What about you?"

"I learned that my elemental affinity was Water." Hinata stated. "Kakashi-sensei's taught me a couple of Water jutsu."

"You just learned your affinity?" Shino asked with a smile.

"Shut up!" Hinata said while punching him in the arm. He chuckled and went back to watching Tazuna shout encouragement to his workers.

* * *

><p>A few days later, after the meeting of Akatsuki, Zabuza and Haku were sitting in their room, each doing something. Zabuza was sharpening his blade even more…not that it needed to be sharpened anymore. Haku was practicing summoning a poisonous type of salamander.<p>

Haku jumped up and went to the door as someone knocked on it. He opened the door to see a pair of Sharingan eyes staring at him. Stepping back, Itachi and Kisame came through the door, looking around the room.

"Hey." Zabuza's gruff voice said. Kisame waved nonchalantly, while Itachi just looked at him.

"We have three days until we strike. What do we do until then?" Kisame asked. Itachi shrugged.

"Just don't cause any destruction, and don't get yourself killed." he said. Kisame nodded and leapt out the window, while Itachi sat in the corner of the room, pondering a question

'_Kakashi's made a name for himself…but can he stand against me?'_

**End chapter!**

**Again, I stress that this is a filler chapter, nothing else. **

**Again, guys, I need you guys to vote in the poll saying whether you want Zabuza and Haku to die or not. If they don't, then say what should happen to them. Kisame and Itachi are not an option, as I will have later uses for them. So far, I have vote for both Zabuza and Haku to die. You have until the next chapter to vote.**

**I am proud to announce that this story is more popular than my other story now. What I want to know now is, what made you guys come to this story? Was it the summary, or the prologue, or what else? Leave a review saying what made you read this story.**

**And finally, I'm glad to see people's reactions to Zabuza in the Akatsuki. I said that the storyline would be different…and it is. It will turn seriously different after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. The Chunin Exams start after this arc ends, and I'm just going to warn you guys now that not much will be different, as I really don't see anymore need to change it. Only one major difference will occur, but that won't play much of a factor in the story.**

**Happy Columbus Day!**

**Andrew out!**


	8. Chapter 7: Battle at the Bridge!

**Hey guys, IloveThisStory2 is back with the next chapter of The Demon's Blessing!**

**This chapter will start finishing off the Wave Arc, with the next chapter completely wrapping up the arc and beginning the Chunin Exams Arc.**

**The poll (which very little of you voted in, *grumble grumble*) has ended and the results will be seen during the next chapter.**

**Alright guys, that's it for this public service announcement, so let the games begin!  
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**Disclaimer: Haven't done one of these in a while. I still don't own Naruto and probably never will. There! That's for the rest of this story.**

**P.S: I AM LIVID! I rewrote the Naruto and Inari argument scene FIVE FREAKING TIMES! First, I exited without saving- my bad. Secondly, Firefox then decided to inform me of an update by changing the whole tab into an advertisement website- and my work was not recovered. Third, at home, a small virus caused my work to be deleted, from the time Naruto sees Kakashi onward. Fourth, the virus came back again and deleted it again. And finally, my little sister danced around the room and pulled the plug with her leg. The first was by far the best argument, but what's done is done, I suppose.  
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* * *

><p>Naruto yawned as he sat up from his bed (he had sealed it within one of his scrolls). The house was deathly quiet- then again, today was the day that Zabuza and the other Akatsuki member would probably attack. They had stayed out of sight, smell, and sound for two weeks; today had to be the day. With everyone knowing this tidbit of information, the house was expected to be quiet.<p>

The blond genin yawned again as he hopped out of the bed wearing nothing but his underwear. He hopped through a shadow portal- it was still dark in his room- and landed in front of the bathroom. Using his sensory skills- they were crappy, but he could make out chakra signatures- he found that nobody was in the bathroom. Grinning to himself, he headed in to take his morning shower and piss.

Twenty minutes later, he headed out of the shower. He reached into a small shadow portal that he designed- called the Shadow Pocket- and pulled out his attire. He quickly put it on and headed down the stairs to see what was going on.

He reached the kitchen in a few seconds and glanced around. Kakashi was sitting at the table quietly, reading the morning newspaper instead of his book. Shino could be seen through the window, practicing on his near perfect aim. Hinata, from what he could tell, had not woken up yet. Tazuna was in the living room, flipping through the few TV channels it held. Tsunami was in the back of the kitchen, cooking breakfast.

"Today's the day." Kakashi said, putting the newspaper flat on the table. Naruto took a seat across from him.

"I'm not certain that it is, but I believe it to be so. We haven't seen hide nor hair of them for exactly two weeks, and Tazuna is getting closer and closer to finishing the bridge." Naruto stated before looking at Tsunami, who was frantically rushing around, cooking meals for seven people.

In a puff of smoke, Akui appeared. "Akui, help Tsunami prepare our breakfast." The addressed clone (as there were a few more hidden in the room) walked wordlessly over to Tsunami.

Kakashi saw the interaction between creator and created and couldn't help but comment. "Clones are useful."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "They are, aren't they? But anyway, after we take care of Akatsuki, Gatou is next."

Kakashi hesitated for a moment, which was a sign to Naruto. "Maybe. If we escape the battle in good health and with reasonable chakra, we can go after him. But if one of us is injured, or we don't have that much chakra left, then I'll call for the ANBU to dispatch of him. Our mission is only to protect Tazuna after all, not to kill Gatou." Kakashi said. Naruto's eyes narrowed and he grit his teeth, but he seemingly accepted the notion.

On the inside, however, his mind was a completely different track. _'Ready or not, the fat little pig will meet his end.' _

Naruto was brought from musing about how to go about killing Gatou-the man was bound to have guards- when he heard a small voice yelling at him from the top of the stairs.

"WHY DO YOU EVEN TRY?" Inari shouted, storming down the stairs while pointing an accusing finger at the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. Naruto sighed in response.

"Here we go again." he muttered under his breath. Inari continued on, not having heard him.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE? YOU CAN'T DEFEAT GATOU! HE HAS AN ARMY! HE'LL CRUSH YOU, KILL YOU! WE DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! GO AWAY!" Inari screamed at Naruto from the fourth step from the bottom. Naruto snorted-something he rarely ever did.

"We're still here because we have a mission that we intend to finish. You may not be able to defeat Gatou, but I am a shinobi; I can kill him without him noticing me. I will crush his army, and I will not die. You say that you don't need our help and that we should go away, but then your grandfather will die and you will live in poverty forever. Is that what you want?" Naruto stated.

"JUST SHUT UP! GATOU HAS CAUSED US SO MUCH PAIN! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT PAIN AND SUFFERING IS!" Inari wailed, effectively setting off the ticking time bomb that was Naruto Uzumaki.

Almost immediately after the words crossed the barrier of Inari's lips, a HUGE explosion of chakra erupted from the blond, whisker marked genin. So big was the explosion that Jake, Kogeri, Akui, and every other clone still in existence was instantly destroyed from the sudden influx of chakra that proved to be too great for them to handle. Tazuna fell out of his chair, Tsunami fainted, and Inari tumbled down the last few stairs. The table and all the chairs at the table shattered into several thousand fine splinters as a result from the forceful blast. Kakashi was thrown away from his student but landed gracefully and easily. Shino, who had placed a bug on every member of Team 7 to keep track of their condition, ran back inside at having felt both the burst of chakra and Naruto's bug die. Upstairs, Hinata cried out in pain from the shower, having heard the explosion and checked it out with the Byakugan, only to be nearly blinded by the chakra output.

"I don't know what pain and suffering is? **I DON'T KNOW WHAT PAIN AND SUFFERING IS? TELL ME, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN HATED FOR SOMETHING YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER? HAVE YOU HAD OVER 800 ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS BEFORE YOUR FIRST BIRTHDAY? HAVE YOU EVER BEEN BURNT ALIVE, BUIRED ALIVE, BEATEN WITHIN AN INCH OF YOUR LIFE? HATED, DESPISED, IGNORED, BETRAYED, BARRED FROM EVERY STORE AND RESTAURANT IN YOUR OWN VILLAGE? HAVE YOU LIVED IN A DUMPSTER FOR SIX MONTHS BEFORE YOU TURN FOUR YEARS OLD? HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO PUBLICLY COMMIT SUICIDE TO MAKE IT ALL GO AWAY, AND HAVE THE VILLAGERS CHEER YOU ON? ARE YOU REFERRED TO AS A MONSTER OR A DEMON EVERY DAY? HAVE YOU?" **Naruto screamed at Inari, who was rolling around the ground crying.

"No nonononononononononononono no!" Inari sobbed. The chakra output slowly receded until all was left was a furious Naruto, a sad Kakashi, and a ruined kitchen.

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><p>After the little escapade in the kitchen, Naruto had replaced the table and chairs with even greater ones from the Shadow Pocket of his. Tsunami had awoken shortly after and finished breakfast with Akui. The breakfast itself passed without incident. And then suddenly, the tension that had dissipated somewhat over the meal returned stronger than ever as Tazuna stood at the door, prepared to meet his fate-whatever that may be.<p>

"Come back safe, Dad." Tsunami said while hugging her father. Tazuna gave her a smile.

"Of course, dear." he said. "Once I come back, Inari will realize what a true hero is."

Said child was sitting in the kitchen, staring at Naruto. Despite everything Inari had said to derail him from going and getting killed, the blond remained as determined as ever to kill Gatou and save Wave. And, surprisingly, because of this never-give-up attitude, Inari found a part of himself believing that Naruto could do it.

Kakashi was the first to speak up. "We better get going...the earlier we get there, the more time we have to get the workers off the bridge and the more time we have to prepare for the battle. I'll take Zabuza; Naruto, take the other one. Shino, Hinata, guard Tazuna. If Naruto or I need help, Shino can send out his bugs to provide cover fire and support. Hinata, you are the defense." Kakashi explained. Each genin nodded, and Shino, Kakashi and Tazuna each stepped out of the house and down the dirt path.

As Naruto made his way to follow them, two soft arms wrapped around his waist, causing him to tense up immediately. He relaxed when he felt a head press against the valley between his shoulder blades and the voice that whispered into him.

"Don't worry, Naruto. I'll never leave your side. I promise." Hinata spoke softly. Naruto smiled softly and turned to hug her as well. Their frames fit perfectly together; Hinata's head rested comfortably against his well toned chest, and his chin rested on the top of her head.

"Thanks, Hinata."

"Let's go, lovebirds." their third teammate said, stepping out from the shadows and startling the two of them so much that they broke apart. Shino chuckled at their antics and the blushes they were sporting.

"How are you still here? You left already, didn't you?" Naruto asked. Shino shook his head.

"Bug Clone." Naruto nodded, and the three friends and comrades took off after the two adults leaving them behind.

* * *

><p>"LET GO OF MY MOM!"<p>

That was the situation that Inari found himself in. Two thugs- Gatou's goons, probably- had her cornered in the living room, which was ruined. The couches and chairs were smashed and sliced apart, the TV broken on the floor. The walls had numerous slash marks on them, and a little blood was smeared on the ground as well.

The two thugs turned to the sound of a newcomer's voice, only to find the eight year old Inari staring at them with fierce determination in his eyes.

"Hey look Waraji, a runt! We could take him too! Gatou will be pleased!" one of the thugs said. He was a light-skinned man with bluish-white hair and black eyes. Lined markings were tattooed under his eyes. He bore a dark purple hat on this head, the top of which extened far beyond the top of his head. He also donned a blue jacket with multiple pockets. Tied to his waist was a blue handled katana.

"NO! Don't touch him. If you do, I'll bite off my tongue and then I bleed to death!" Tsunami said. Waraji frowned.

"We only need one hostage Zori, and we better take this one so Boss will have another play toy." Waraji was a tall man with brown hair and a very scarred face. An eyepatch covered his right eye. The man had stitches on his forehead, and tattoos on his shoulders. He too had a katana tied to his waist.

"Sure, sure. But I think that we should play with her first." Zori said with a very hungry look in his eyes. He was staring at two objects in particular-round, large, and right next to each other.

Inari, seeing this, shouted again and threw a nearby book at the two. It hit Zori in the head. The ill-tempered rogue samurai turned around, very clearly pissed.

"That's it, brat. You will-" his voice was drowned out by a lud gurgling soud. Looking behind him, he stopped in fear as a girl stood behind Waraji with a bloody but beautiful katana.

"Wha-" he couldn't finish as another boy appeared behind him and snapped his neck with his two hands. Zori slumped to the ground, clearly dead, right next to his partner-in-crime Waraji, who was drowning in his own pool of blood.

Anju and Hyosuke grimaced at the sight of the dead bodies and summoned Metsui and the Clean-Up Squad, who simply took one look at the corpses and started to clean them up. Anju turned to Inari while Hyousake looked at Tsunami.

"Everything's fine now. I'm Anju and that's Hyosuke. We are two of the boss clones that Naruto made. He left us here under a transformation as a spoon and fork in case anything happened." Anju said while Metsui polished her blade for her. Inari and Tsunami nodded mutely, not trusting their voices to say anything.

* * *

><p><em>'Boss, two enemy samurai units attempted to kidnap Tsunami.<em>' Hyosuke's voice rang out inside of Naruto's mind as they walked towards the bridge.

_'Status?' _Naruto questioned.

_'Both threats have been eliminated.' _

_'Were they working for Gatou?'_

_'Affirmative.' _As with Kogeri, Hyosuke had another side to him as well. Whenver in the heat of battle or action, Hyosuke always reported as if he was a soldier; he was very formal and used military structure when speaking. Then again, as his name meant helpful soldier, it was to be expected.

_'Good work, you two.' _Naruto replied before turning to Tazuna. "It seems that Gatou attempted to kidnap your daughter by sending a few samurai to your house, but my clones were more than a match for them."

Tazuna nodded in thanks. "Thank you so much...if I lost either Tsunami or Inari, I would probably stop building the bridge so nothing bad would happen to them."

Naruto simply nodded once more and turned his attention towards the steadily growing bridge. "We're almost there."

Five minutes later, the four ninja guardians and the elder bridge builder were standing at the edge of the bridge. The heavy mist had once again rolled over the bridge, hindering vision greatly. Each ninja was instantly put on guard, knowing that a battle would begin.

"Back for more, Zabuza?" Kakashi called out into the mist. A deep voice- Zabuza's voice- chuckled as the mist cleared slightly.

"Oh, I think that you'll find a pleasant surprise waiting for you and your friends..." he said, as the mist revealed four characters. Kakashi, and a second later all the other genin, blanched at seeing four members of Akatsuki instead of two.

Kakashi blanched even further at recognizing the other two members of Akatsuki. One of them was a man that looked like a shark; he had blue skin, blue spiky hair, small round eyes, gills on his cheeks, and a large bandaged object strapped to his back. The other man was much shorter and less...disturbing. He looked completely human, with raven black hair and red eyes. Inside his red eyes were three slowly spinning black tomoes.

"So...Zabuza Momochi, Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi Uchiha, and a unnamed Akatsuki member-"

"My name is Haku Yuki." the boy cut across. Itachi nudged him in the ribs, silencing him.

"...Zabuza Momochi, Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi Uchiha, and Haku Yuki, all S-ranked criminals. Zabuza Momochi, wanted for attempted assassination of the Mizukage and assassination of the daimyo of the Land of Honey. Kisame Hoshigaki, wanted for the murder of several Kirigakure ninja, as well as terrorizing several towns around the world. Itachi Uchiha, older brother of Sasuke Uchiha, wanted for the slaughter of the entire Uchiha Clan in one night. Haku Yuki, wanted for joining the terror organization known as Akatsuki, and believed to be the last Yuki alive. Reasonable to believe that he has an Ice Style bloodline, and quite possibly holds the salamander contract. Not a bad group you have there." Kakashi commented smoothly, his voice betraying no emotion.

On the inside, however, he was close to having a total collapse. Not even he could square off against four S-ranked ninja at once and survive for even a minute. Shino and Hinata were mid and low chunin in strength, respectively, and Naruto...well, Naruto was at least jonin level.

However, against a man who fought the Mizukage and lived, a comrade of said man who is believed to be stronger than him, a third man that was considered a prodigy and was capable of killing the entire Uchiha clan all at once, and another that was at the same caliber as the others...they were royally screwed.

However, that didn't mean he would go down quietly.

"Team Seven, listen and listen well. These men will not hesitate to kill you; they all have committed various crimes in their lands, and they are all stronger than me. But that doesn't mean that we give up, because then we will have already lost the fight. I will take Itachi; he is undoubtedly the strongest (1), and we both have the Sharingan so the battle will be relatively even. Naruto, you have the task of bringing down Kisame. Recent reports have called him the "Tailless Tailed Beast" because of his vast amount of chakra, so you are a perfect fit for him. Beware of that bandaged object, for it is the mighty sword called Samehada; it absorbs chakra and feeds it to the wielder. Shino...you will have the honor of facing off against Zabuza. Naruto tells me that he is a demon, so your demonic bugs should do the trick. Hinata, battle Haku. Know that if he is really a Yuki, he will have excellent control over water and/or wind, and will use ice attacks against you. By the way, Naruto, though this isn't the time to ask, how is it that you can make ice wolves?" Kakashi explained/asked.

"By combining both water and wind chakra, one can create an ice attack." Naruto said. Kakashi nodded, filing away the information for the next time he hit the training grounds, before turning to Tazuna.

"Taznua, as it is, we have no extra protection for you. I ask you to run away from this place, or you'll meet your death here." Kakashi warned. Tazuna nodded, but before he could run, several puffs of smoke appeared around him, revealing Anju, Hyosuke, Kogeri, Jake, Shika, Lisa, and several other regular clones. Naruto cut three of his fingers as well, drawing blood before doing familiar hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu!" he pronounced. Three puffs of smoke revealed a wolf, a toad, and a fox all appeared. The wolf was about as large as a big Labrador Retriever with Naruto's Rinnegan eyes. The fox was the small size, but it had three red tails swaying around behind it. FInally, the small toad had on a blue jacket much like Gamabunta's.

"Ookami, Gamakichi, Shiretsuna, good to see you all. I need you three to protect Tazuna, the old man, over there." Naruto said.

"No problem." Ookami, the wolf, stated.

"So by protect him you mean don't let him die or don't let him get hurt in general?" Shiretsuna asked.

"Just don't let him get hurt. And certainly don't let him die." Naruto said. The three summons nodded and took off for the bridge builder.

"Everyone, onto the ground, now!" Jake commanded. Tazuna, the other clones, and the summons, did as he said. Meanwhile, Zabuza snorted before running through forty-four hand signs in three seconds.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu." he said. A sixty foot tall water dragon erupted from the ocean underneath the bridge, roaring ferociously before flying at the group.

As soon as everyone hit the ground, Jake flew through five hand signs.

"Earth Style: Protective Dome!" he stated. The earth rose up and surrounded the group from all sides like a bowl resting over a hiding mouse. The water dragon slammed into it with ferocity, but the dome withstood the attack.

From the inside, Jake did twelve more hand signs before finishing his next jutsu.

"Earth Style: Underground Submarine!" he whispered. The dome slowly sank into the ground- not as if it were collapsing, but it literally sank through the ground itself. Finally, after a minute of this, Jake let up the jutsu.

"We are currently seventy feet below the surface. Nothing will be able to hurt you, Tazuna-san." Jake said. Tazuna nodded, suddeny happy that he got stuck with the blond boy.

Back up on the bridge, the two factions stood face to face, ready to do battle.

"Kakashi, give up the Nine-Tails and you shall live to see another day." Itachi said calmly, one hand resting inside of his Akatsuki cloak.

"Sorry Itachi, but not today." Kakashi said, lifting his Konoha headband to reveal his Sharingan eye. Itachi nodded, and all eight ninja charged at their respective opponent.

* * *

><p>Hinata and Haku met in the middle of the bridge in a shower of sparks, Hinata's kunai pressing against three of Haku's senbon. The two continued to battle it out for dominace in the deathmatch, Hinata's expression determined and Haku's smiling.<p>

"Your speed and strength is good." he said. Hinata grinned in response.

"Thank you. Your speed and-" she was cut off as the boy suddenly forced her to one knee in a sudden boost of muscle. Haku's knee then rose up, connecting with her chin and sending her back a good ten feet.

"However, it pales in comparison to mine." the Yuki finished. Hinata wiped the blood trailing from her mouth and jumped into the Gentle Fist Stance at seeing Haku charge at her.

She deflected a punch to the face off to the side with her right and launched a two fingered strike to a tenketsu in Haku's right shoulder. The boy spun around the strike and into Hinata's guard before drawing a senbon from nowhere and slicing at her throat. The girl bent backwards to dodge the attack and launched a palm strike straight upwards at Haku's face. The boy grasped her wrist and pulled her back upwards, at the same time his head came down. She felt three very painful headbutts; one in between the chest, and two the head, before being thrown backwards again. She was dazed and hurt, but she did manage to see two senbon needles aiming to take her eyes out. She quickly jumped up and over the attack, and started hand signs for one of the only jutsu she knew.

"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!" she said as she landed. Several sprouts of water burst up from the sea, ready to impale Haku-

Wordlessly, a wall of water rose up from the puddles on the bridge and blocked each and every attack. Then, it swirled even more until it formed a twenty-foot long dragon that stared at her before charging.

"Crap." she muttered as she began a Rotation to deflect the attack.

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><p>Meanwhile, towards the completed end of the bridge, Shino jumped back as Zabuza's blade came slicing at him, intent to tear him in half from the waist. He jumped out of the sword's range and with skillful timing hopped back at the certified killer with two kunai drawn. But Zabuza somehow redirected the momentum of the sword towards the attack by Shino and easily blocked both strikes.<p>

"Try again." Zabuza said boredly as Shino leapt back from him. The Aburame quickly started releasing his invisible mosquitos.

Of course, only when the first few keeled over in mid air and died, Shino realized that the mosquitos were good for taking human blood...but demonic blood was probably totally different and completely lethal to the bugs.

He drew them back in as quickly as he could, but that left him unable to move for a few seconds. That was all Zabuza needed to go through several hand signs.

"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!" Zabuza proclaimed. On Shino's left side, the water rose up in a large pillar of water quickly before forming into a large shark that charged the Aburame. Shino leap backwards, off the bridge, but used his flying spider bugs to quickly construct a silk rope that stuck onto the bottom of the bridge. Reversing his momentum, the black- haired genin fell and swung around the bridge, coming back up from the other side, completing hand signs for a jutsu Kakashi taught him.

"Wind Style: Dust Cloud Technique!" Shino said, cupping his hands around his exposed mouth (Zabuza had tried to slit his throat, but Shino's attempt to dodge resulted only in the piece covering his mouth being cut off) and blowing with all his might. A huge concentrated blast of air, complete with a few dust particles, flew directly at Zabuza, who quickly made demon hand seals.

"Demon Skill: Shield of Hades!" instantly, a skeletal shield rose up in front of the man. The powerful attack from Shino met the shield and tried valiantly to destroy it, but as it ended, the shield remained with no damage visible. As it disappeared, Zabuza chuckled yet again.

"Not bad, genin. But...I'm way out of your league." With that, he disappeared into the mist, leaving Shino to send out his demonic kikachu bugs in an attempt to find the man.

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><p>Naruto and Kisame stood ten feet apart on the over to the left side of the bridge, staring at each other. While Naruto was staring analytically at the monster of a man, Kisame was lazily staring at him.<p>

"Kid, you're not going to win. It's best if you just give up and-"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." Naruto interrupted as four clones appeared. One charged in with tantos drawn, followed by a second with a katana. The third trailed slightly behind the second, baring nothing but his fists. The final stood back with katana drawn, waiting for a chance to unleash an attack.

Kisame blocked a strike from the tanto clone and spun the blade so that one of the blades was thrown away. He slashed at the clone, which ducked to dodge the strike, but was then kicked in the face. The clone was thrown into the charging katana clone, creating a thick puff of smoke that hindered Kisame's sight. The taijutsu clone jumped through the smoke and rolled to the left as Kisame sliced vertically at him. He got up and kicked at the temple of the male, who blocked the attack and grabbed the clone's arm. The clone was thrown through the air and crashed painfully against the bridge before dispelling. The final clone slashed once at Kisame, which produced a slash of blue chakra.

"One Sword Style: Katana Chakra Slash!" The clone said before dispersing, having put all of its chakra into the attack. The flying attack of blue chakra soared through the air menacingly at Kisame, but the swordsman simply raised Samehada and absorbed the attack. Naruto rose an eyebrow.

"So your sword can absorb chakra...let's try this. Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Naruto said. He blew a large fireball from his mouth at the swordsman, who quickly ran through hand signs.

"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!" Kisame stated. The water in front of him quickly rose up into the form of a shark and charged directly at the much larger fireball before exploding directly in front of it. The expansion of water covered the fireball and put it out. Naruto growled and leapt backwards as Kisame blurred into vision before him and attempted to take his chakra away.

_'Let's see...Fire Style is out of the question because he can counter with Water Style. Water Style is a no go because he's a master; I have no doubt that he can turn my own techniques against me. Lightning is a no for obvious reasons. Earth is impossible on water. Plain chakra attacks without a nature will be absorbed. Kenjutsu...not good enough to combat a Swordsman yet. That leaves Wind Style, Demon Skills, Summonings, the second-stage Rinnegan, and Taijutsu. I need to get him away from that sword to open up other things, though.' _Naruto anaylzed. He then jumped away as Kisame tried to impale him with Samehada again.

* * *

><p>Kakashi launched three punches and a kick at Itachi, who swiftly dodged each attack while backtracking. The Uchiha jumped away as Kakashi did a front flip that attempted to become a drop kick. As Kakashi got up, he drew a kunai to block the three shuriken that whizzed at him.<p>

"Why did you murder the Uchiha Clan, Itachi?" Kakashi demanded to know as he tossed the kunai knife at his former ANBU colleauge.

Itachi easily caught the attack and sliced downward as Kakashi burst from the water in an attempt to uppercut him. The clone that burst from the water was cleaved in half. "I did it to test my own strength." Itachi replied before charging at Kakashi, who finished a few hand signs.

_"_That doesn't sound like something you would do. Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" Kakashi said as he blew a large fireball at Itachi, who simply let it hit him. Kakashi's eyes widened as the man dissolved into crows.

_'Genjutsu!' _he thought before breaking from the illusion. He swiftly turned and slapped Itachi away from him as the missing ninja tried to impale him with a kunai from behind. But then, this Itachi turned into crows as well.

_'A double layered Genjutsu?' _Kakashi thought before breaking the Genjutsu once more. This time, however, it was the same scene as before; the crows had just emerged from the fire, and were flying around overhead.

_'TRIPLE-LAYERED!' _Kakashi mentally yelled before attempting to free himself. This time, however, he found that he couldn't break it.

_'What?' _he wondered. Of course, when each crow turned into Itachi, who launched a kunai with an explosive tag at Kakashi, did he realize that it hadn't been a Genjutsu.

_'Crap...where's a log when you desperately need one?' _Kakashi wondered, seeing that there was very little for him to reasonably substitute with. Unable to find a object to change with, Kakashi simply cut the chakra from his feet, knowing that the water would minimize the explosion impact.

Ten kunai knives landed in the water around, sizzling around the seal. However, it didn't explode. Instead, three water sharks was released from each seal. Kakashi swam desperately, trying not to lose his life at the hands of a cleverly designed trap.

Standing calmly and pateintly on the raging waters, Itachi spoke as if Kakashi was next to him. "You didn't know me as well as you thought you did."

* * *

><p>Hinata panted as she fell to one knee. Earlier, about three minutes beforehand, Haku had decided that he had had enough time to play with the young girl and started unleashing Ice attacks. Though she had been able to dodge most of them, there was one attack that she didn't avoid completely, which caused her left leg to be encased with a thin coating of ice. This ice, for whatever reason, slowed her down greatly, enabling Haku to trap her in his Demonic Ice Mirrors.<p>

Another wave of senbon came from all sides, and Hinata stood yet again, spinning rapidly while creating a shield of chakra. "Rotation!"

The salvos were blown away, some even thrown back at the mirrors, but none of them came close to touching Hinata. The girl, however, fell to both knees this time, having used most of her chakra on the several Rotation attacks.

"It's over for you. I have an endless amount of weapons at my disposal, and you are out of chakra, which means no more defense for you. Time to die." Haku muttered emotionlessly, drawing several needles from Kami knows where and preparing to throw them. However, both combatants stopped when they heard a new voice yell from outside the dome.

"HUMAN BOULDER!"

* * *

><p>Shino groaned and stood up yet again. Zabuza had thrashed the Aburame pretty easily. He suffered cuts in several places, and large bruises from being smacked with the flat end of the sword. The only good thing that came out of this was that his bugs had taken away a lot of Zabuza's youkai, which cleared the mist and slowed him down.<p>

Ten feet in front of Shino, Zabuza panted as he tried to regain his breath. The youkai was linked to his breathing habits; the Aburame's bugs had taken away his demonic chakra, so he lost his breath more quickly.

Standing upright, Zabuza chuckled as Shino stood once more. "You've got spirit, I'll give you that." The demon then charged at Shino and leapt up in the air before coming down with his sword above his head. "BUT THAT AIN'T ENOUGH!"

"Shadow Stiching Jutsu!"

* * *

><p>Naruto burst from the water yet again and did more demon hand seals. "Demon Skill: Kagutsuchi's Revenge!" Naruto stated, releasing a huge ball of flames at Kisame.<p>

But then, out of nowhere, a stream of black flames burst in from the right of the scene and battled for dominance with Naruto's attack. Naruto channeled as much chakra as he thought he needed into the attack to make it stronger, but the strange other black flames won over and continued at him. Naruto released a string of curses and did even more demonic hand symbols.

"Demon Skill: Harbinger of Death!" Instantly, the tall being of mist appeared and raised its scythe. Swinging down, it cut straight through the attack, dividing the attack in half and knocking them to the sides. Naruto landed on the water panting, while to his left and right the black flames danced on the water.

Kakashi appeared next to him on one knee, panting very hard. On the other end, Itachi appeared, a small trickle of blood sliding from his right eye. The Uchiha, however, seemed to have won the battle.

"Give up." Itachi demanded. Naruto growled as Kakashi collapsed next to him, slowly sinking. He created a clone which picked up the slowly sinking jonin before responding.

"Never!" he responded. Kisame shook his head and chuckled before hefting his great sword onto his shoulder.

"Kid, you're not enough to take me on. Itachi, as I knowingly admit, is stronger than me. You can't beat him. The two of us together will crush you." he laughed.

"How about we even out those odds, then?" a new voice drifted over the mist. In a swirl of leaves, Asuma and Kiba appeared before him.

"Team Ten, here to save your ass!"

* * *

><p><strong>End chapter!<strong>

**So guys, what do you think of the fights? Good? Bad? Ok? Drop a review saying what you think.**

**Not much else to add, but I do pose an interesting question that I want answered. **

**Who wins in a full-blown battle: a completely healthy Itachi or Minato? ****At first, I thought that Minato would wipe the floor with him...but if Itachi goes into Susanoo mode, then most of Minato's attacks are useless. The Rasengan can't pierce the armor, nor can Minato's Hirashin kunai. Therefore, he loses the Hirashin and the Rasengan. Honestly guys, what do you think?**

**Alright guys, so that's it for this chapter! See ya later!**

**Andrew out!**


	9. Chapter 8: No More Waves

**Hey guys, I'm back with the next chapter of The Demon's Blessing! YEAH!**

**I apologize for the long wait, but my birthday passed, and fall exams arrived, and more work, and Modern Warfare 3, and Assassin's Creed Revelations, and Batman: Arkham City, and NBA 2k12, and a new laptop...you get the idea.**

**I'm glad that I got a lot of feedback for the last chapter. It shows that you guys are reading this story and like it. **

**About Itachi and Minato, I see that most of you still believe that Minato would kick ass. I agree, but I still think that it would be a great fight to watch. **

**Anyway, it seems that a majority of my reviews for this chapter was pertaining to the question about who would win and not the chapter itself…not that I'm complaining, as a review is a review. But I think that I will start posting a question at the end of each chapter that asks who would win in a battle. Yes, that sounds interesting indeed…**

**I realized something that I want explained. If I'm correct (and I assume I am), Hashirama divided the nine Bijuu so that each great village had the same power. That would've meant that one village had the Ichibi and Hachibi, a second with the Nibi and Nanabi, the third with the Sanbi and Rokubi, the fourth with the Yonbi and Gobi, and the last with the Kyuubi. Obviously Iwa and Kiri would be right in this equation, since Iwa had the Four and Five Tails and Kiri the Three and Six Tails. And, from what I'm seeing, the Ichibi is a sand demon...which more than likely means that it was given to Suna. So how did the Hachibi end up in Kumo with the Nibi? And how, exactly, did such a small village as Taki get the Nanabi? I can understand that maybe through the wars the Hachibi Jinchuriki ended up in Kumo, but how did Taki snag the Nanabi? And if Kumo always had the Nibi, then how did Taki get the Nanabi from Kumo, no less? (My brain is overloaded by the strain of figuring this out.)**

**Anyway, on a completely unrelated note, the other day on my way back from a soccer game we played, our team bus passed by this nice little restaurant on East 90th Street and Third Avenue called Naruto Ramen. It was…funny, to say the least.**

**Anyway, without further ado, here comes the next chapter of The Demon's Blessing!**

"Team Ten, here to save your ass!" Kiba exclaimed. Naruto sighed.

"You realize that we are going up against two of the biggest criminals and strongest ninja in the world, right Kiba?" Naruto deadpanned. Kiba merely shrugged.

"So what? We're fighting the older brother of the kanjō rokudenashi **(in English, emotionless bastard)** and a man that looks like a shark. It can't be that bad." Kiba stated. Naruto sighed and moved next to the bearded jonin and hooded genin.

"Naruto, Kiba, you two will have to take on Itachi. He's more of a long range fighter, and he won't let me get close." Asuma stated while brandishing his trench knives threateningly. "I'll take Kisame."

Naruto merely nodded. "Sounds good to me."

In three blurs, the two genin and the infamous missing nin were gone from the site of the other battle as if they had never been there.

* * *

><p>Zabuza's eyes widened as several tendrils of shadows appeared from behind the Aburame, all poised to skewer him. He forced himself to land short of his target, but the strange things shot forward even further. He sliced at them, but they simply weaved around the blade and took it away from him. Several others stabbed him through the stomach, the shoulders, the arms, and one hit him in the left lung.<p>

The Demon of the Bloody Mist gasped in pain and in lack of breath as his lung was stabbed through. He could feel the internal bleeding, and the blood piling up within his lung, keeping him for breathing and drowning him at the same time. On the brink of death, Zabuza groaned as he decided that he would take out Shino and Shikamaru in his last, desperate attack.

Unfortunately for him, several other shadow tendrils impaled him in vital areas; one to his right lung, one to his heart, one to his forehead, one to each eye, and one through the neck. The proud demon gurgled for a bit and stumbled backwards before falling backwards and landing eagle-spread.

As the demon died on the road, one last thought floated across his mind.

'_I hope my killer wasn't another genin…I would never live it down.' _he thought before passing away. As he died, a short brief flicker of Haku's face traveled through his mind, but he had no time left to think on it anymore.

Zabuza Momochi was dead, with Shikamaru Nara his killer.

* * *

><p>Said Nara boy's legs suddenly turned into jelly and buckled. He slid down the tree he was leaning on to the ground, eyes wide and heart beating quickly.<p>

He had taken his first life.

He knew, unlike some other people he knew, that the life of a ninja was full of death and destruction. There was a point in your career where you would kill someone. But the Nara hadn't really expected that point to be so soon. That, of course, sent him into shock.

His shock didn't last long, however, as Shino slapped him silly. The Nara glared up at his silent and intellectual friend.

"Shikamaru. I know that you didn't want to kill him, and you probably didn't like killing him, but if you hadn't, I would have died. You did the right thing, no matter how wrong it may seem. Remember that." Shino stated. Shikamaru stared him for a few seconds before sighing.

"So troublesome, but you're right. Come on, Kiba went to help Naruto, but I think that they will need our help as well." Shikamaru stated. Shino nodded and the two shot off in the direction of their friends.

* * *

><p>Haku's eyes peered through the mist, looking for whoever had made that shout. If they were going to interfere, then she would have no choice but to put them down.<p>

Her eyes widened as she saw a large ball rolling at her. She could just barely make out the object as a person before leaping away from her mirror. The boy crashed into the mirror she was in and circled back around, smashing the whole bottom layer of mirrors. She leapt into the lone mirror that hung at the top as the boy finally came to a stop and shrunk to normal size in front of Hinata.

"Chouji! Thank Kami you're here. That guy is really strong, so you better be careful." Hinata stated while standing back up, albeit slowly. Chouji nodded and handed her a pill.

"Take this. It's an Akimichi soldier pill. It does the same thing as a regular soldier pill, but you won't feel as exhausted after you use it as you do when you have taken a normal one." Chouji said, handing her the tablet without taking his eyes off of the Akatsuki member who he was to battle. Hinata gratefully took the pill and swallowed it. She instantly felt the pill refill her reserves of chakra quickly. In a matter of a few seconds, she had all of her chakra back.

"Let's do this!" she said. She and Chouji charged at Haku, who watched impassively, waiting for an opening.

* * *

><p>Itachi ducked under a claw from Kiba and spun around as the small white companion of Kiba tried to bite him. When he stopped spinning, he kicked the incoming Kiba back and blocked a punch from Naruto. He jumped back as a gray spinning drill tried to pierce his ribcage on his right and watched as Kiba and Naruto met up.<p>

They discussed something for a minute before Kiba jumped back up in the air thirty feet above Itachi. "Fang over Fang!" Naruto leapt slightly above him, doing hand signs.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Naruto yelled. The spinning Kiba suddenly intensified in speed and charged at Itachi even more violently than usual. Itachi, however, simply side stepped away and watched as Kiba collided with the water. Naruto landed, doing more hand signs.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!" he said. Instead of opening his mouth, however, Naruto pointed a palm at Itachi. The lightning bolt flew out quickly, intent on hitting him. Itachi jumped over the attack, preparing hand signs of his own.

Kiba then burst back out of the water still spinning. Itachi impassively looked at him and aimed his jutsu at Kiba instead.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu." he said flatly. A large ball of fire flew at Kiba, who was too far in his jutsu to move. The Inuzuka started to panic, but a cloud of bugs grabbed his legs and pulled him away.

As Kiba landed on all fours next to Naruto, Shino and Shikamaru appeared next to him. Kiba grinned.

"Now there's no way we can lose!" he shouted. Naruto sighed.

_'He still doesn't understand. Oh well.' _"Shadow Style: Shadow Spear Impalement!" he announced. Several distortions in the air appeared and spears made of pure shadows shot out, all aimed for Itachi.

But apparently, Itachi's Sharingan was able to pick up on each shot, no matter how fast they came. He ducked, dodged, and wove his way through the attack until Naruto released a hold on the jutsu. The blond juggernaut then fired up another move.

"Demon Skill: Blackfire Dragon!" he said. The flames of Amasterasu, to Naruto's surprise and Itachi's well-hidden astonishment, rose up and formed a dragon. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

_'So the Blackfire Dragon is made from Amasterasu flames, it would seem. But then, doesn't that mean...!' _Naruto thought. To his fear, Itachi made the same hand signs he did, but didn't speak anything. Half of the Amasterasu flames forming Naruto's dragon was violently ripped away from the main body and floated over to Itachi. In a matter of seconds, two Blackfire Dragons were facing off.

Naruto's dragon charged first, intent on destroying Itachi rather than the dragon. Itachi's dragon moved forth and attempted to intercept the other fierce beast. But in another strange twist, as each dragon approached each other, Naruto's dragon curved downward violently and exploded in the water, whilst Itachi's shot up into the sky and exploded in a series of black fireworks. Naruto grimaced.

_'This is going to be so much more complicated than it needs to be...' _he thought as Kiba ran forward again.

* * *

><p>Asuma swiped again at Kisame, who blocked easily with the sword. Kisame sent a powerful side swipe at Asuma's right ribcage. Samehada collided brutally, but Asuma turned into a beam of wood that was cut in half.<p>

Glancing back up at the bridge, Kisame saw his newest adversary finish a few hand signs.

"Earth Style: Earth and Stone Dragon!" he said. A large brown dragon rose up from the dirt nearby the bridge and charged at Kisame, who made his own hand signs.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" he said. Under Kisame, the water bubbled and then exploded into a seventy foot water dragon that dwarfed Asuma's own by at least twenty feet. Riding on the dragon's head, Kisame charged the earth dragon itself.

But then, five feet before the dueling beasts made of opposing elements collided, Kisame jumped forward and cut clean through the dragon that Asuma had put his chakra into. The shark man's own dragon continued onward and almost smashed Asuma into the bridge like an annoying bug, but luckily for the bearded jonin, a simple Substitution would suffice.

Asuma reappaared a little bit farther down the bridge, trench knives gone and several kunai knives in his hands. Kisame grinned and leapt back onto the concrete construction of Tazuna's, charging the bearded man. Asuma breathed out deeply before launching his knives and charging behind them.

Kisame, as expected, rose his sword to block each kunai. But a single weapon managed to get through his guard and fly by him. Asuma grinned...and then disappeared.

Kisame, to his credit, saw the lone kunai that was left floating in the air when Asuma disappeared and turned around, sword in a defensive position. This proved to be beneficial to him, as Asuma was ready to bifurcate him at the waist. Kisame's ninja reflexes allowed him to block the strike from Asuma's wind chakra-covered blades.

"You almost had me there, buddy." Kisame said while grinning. Asuma grunted as Kisame slowly forced more strength into the deadlock. His advantage had now turned against him.

Finally, Asuma was on one knee, and Kisame was looming above him. Suddenly, the monster of a man raised his legendary blade above his head for a powerful, deadly strike that would most likely cave his head in. "THIS IS IT FOR YOU!"

And the sword came swinging down.

* * *

><p>"This is why I'm not going to pay you! You ninja are too weak-hearted, and demand way too much money. So I'm just going to kill you all and then get the profits from your corpses!" Gatou yelled from across the bridge at the assembly of ninja. Kisame and Itachi glared at the man and his army, while Teams Ten and Seven (even Kakashi) stood behind them, watching the confrontation. Zabuza and Haku lay next to each other, both dead.<p>

Asuma should have died, but Itachi stayed Kisame's hand at the last minute. Kisame appeared angry at first about leaving the jonin alive, but Itachi reminded him of a special "plan" their leader had for the Leaf ninja. That apparently included leaving all of them alive- much to Kisame and Hidan's disappointment.

The groups were about to face off when Kakashi reappeared, apparently having received chakra from a couple of clones Naruto discreetly made earlier. Once more, the battle was to resume, but Haku came flying out of the mist in a crumpled heap. Following him, a rolling Choji squashed him like a bug. His last words to Naruto had been "My room...Gatou's warehouse...salamander contract...take it..." before dieing from having his internal organs flattened by Choji's Human Boulder. Shortly after his death, Hinata came crawling out of the mist with a fresh batch of ice senbon lodged all over her body. Choji had gotten lucky because at that point, he was using the Spiky Human Boulder, which protected him from the less spiky ice salvos.

For the third time, the battle should have resumed, with Team Ten against Kisame and Team Seven (minus Hinata) fighting Itachi, but Gatou's men and the fat midget himself appeared from the mist behind both factions. That was when he had made his decree about denying payment to the Akatsuki members...which, more than likely, earned him a one way ticket to Hell.

"Leaf Ninja, stay out of this. This has become personal." Kisame growled, turning his blade to his former employer's army. Itachi turned, Sharingan still activated.

"How about this; you guys can take out the army and take 45% of Gato's profits, while we take 55%. Then we part ways as neutral parties until we meet again." Kakashi proposed. Itachi thought about it for a moment or so.

"Hmm...Gatou was a multi-billionaire, so 45% is much more than we anticipated to gather...we'll take it." Itachi stated.

"Just keep Kakuzu away from the money." Kisame chuckled. Gatou growled, obviously in anger.

"You dare ignore me? You shall meet your fate here! WHOEVER BRINGS ME THEIR HEADS GETS A BONUS 100,000 RYO!" Gatou shouted to his army. They cheered merrily before rushing across the unfinished bridge. Itachi and Kisame charged as well, and the two factions met quickly.

The battle, though one sided in the numbers game, was clearly in favor of the rogue ninja. Kisame did most of the killing; he ran in and sliced everyone and everything in his path apart. Itachi lagged behind, swiftly ending the lives of those Kisame had missed and watching his partner's unprotected back.

In less than two minutes, a completely bloody Kisame and his partner stood in front of Gatou, who squealed like a pig. Kisame grinned and grabbed Gatou by the throat.

"So, any last words?" Kisame asked.

"Please...spare me-"

Kisame threw him fifty, sixty, seventy feet in the air before shouting out. "Five Great Feeding Sharks!" Five large sharks rose up and charged the floating man from different angles. They all collided in a great explosion...and then blood rained from the sky.

As it rained, the world stopped for the six young genin. A single ember suddenly appeared in the air, and from it several streaks of flames wrapped around, round, until several words were formed.

**CONGRATULATIONS!**

**FENDING OFF ZABUZA AND HAKU, TEAM SEVEN: 200 XP AWARDED!**

**KILLING ZABUZA, SHIKAMARU NARA: 300 XP AWARDED!**

**KILLING HAKU, CHOJI AKAMICHI: 200 XP AWARDED!**

**FENDING OFF ITACHI AND KISAME, NARUTO UZUMAKI, KIBA INUZUKA; 800 XP AWARDED!**

**BATTLING ZABUZA, SHINO ABURAME: 250 XP AWARDED!**

**BATTLING HAKU, HINATA HYUGA: 175 XP AWARDED!**

**COMPLETION OF WAVE ARC: 500 XP AWARDED!**

**SPECIAL ABILITY UNLOCKED! EMPATHY LINKS!**

Instantly on all six genin's arms, several words started to appear, as if someone was writing on them. Five rows of names appeared on each genin's right arm.

**EMPATHY LINKS UNLOCKED! EMPATHY LINKS CAN BE USED TO COMMUNICATE WITH ANY ONE YOU SHARE A LINK WITH VIA TELEPATHY, NO MATTER HOW FAR AWAY! HOWEVER, THEY CAN BE BROKEN! UPGRADES REQUIRED TO SPEAK WITH MORE THAN TWO PEOPLE AT A TIME! UPGRADES ALSO REQUIRED TO MAKE EMPATHY LINKS MORE RESISTANT TO BEING BROKEN! TO WORK, TAP THE NAME OF THE PERSON YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO ON YOUR ARM! WHEN ALL UPGRADES ARE REQUIRED, YOU CAN FORM EMPATHY LINKS AT WILL!**

And just like that, all the words just disappeared. The world fast forwarded a bit to catch up with the current time; Itachi and Kisame leaving, the townspeople arriving to the scene and celebrating, and then their senseis staring at them with concern. Finally each genin snapped out of their trance.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, concern eveident. Naruto turned away and saw that Tazuna, along with all his clones, were staring at him.

"We zoned out. Sorry." Shino stated. The two jonin glanced at each other, as if not believing it, but they bought the excuse.

"Well, now we just have to wait until Tazuna-san finishes constructing the bridge, and then we can leave. You guys can take the rest of the day off." Asuma stated. Everyone whopped and cheered before the genin left. Asuma and Kakashi trailed behind them.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat on a branch jutting out from a tree sixty feet up. Just beyond and below him, Gatou's warehouse and headquarters- a very large building- sat. But Naruto wasn't there just to see the building; no, but a prize was somewhere in there. It was a prize he would not let slip away from him.<p>

Making a very familiar cross symbol, Naruto spammed the surrounding trees with clones. This should have been very noticeable, but it was two in the morning. Only shinobi who knew how to channel chakra to their eyes to see better would be able to spot him or his clones.

Naruto then grinned and then made the hand sign again, but added even more chakra into it to summon his latest creation. In a puff of smoke, a girl his age appeared.

The girl was, basically, a carbon copy of Kogeri, but several things discerned the two. Whereas Kogeri had black hair, this girl had a color hair Naruto couldn't identify. Reason being: it changed color to camoflauge her in whatever surrounding she was in. The same ordeal went for the eyes, while Kogeri's eyes were a hazel color. Her clothes were almost the same, but they too were adjusted to change colors to adapt to the environment. She didn't have nearly as many weapons as Kogeri had on her, but she did have a dagger sheathed to her waist.

"Hello, Masutasupai," Naruto greeted.**(A/N: I'm going to refer to her as Masuta most of the time. Her whole name is a nuisance to type out. And for those who want to know why this name, the world literally translates to "master spy.") **The new clone commander merely nodded to him (she was silent by design) and turned away from him. Several clones appeared, but not in puffs of smoke. In very gentle and mostly unnoticeable breezes, twenty clones formed into existence.

"Scouting Division, reporting for duty." Masutasupai stated kneeling. Naruto motioned for her to stand.

"You don't need to kneel, Masuta-chan. Anyway, Scouting Division, I have your first official assignment for you all. This is Gatou's warehouse. As you have been briefed, he was our enemy until he met his demise. We need you to scout out the base before we storm it."

"Any particular objectives?" Masuta asked.

"Primary objective for now is to map out the whole base. Once that is done, several secondary objectives await you. You will have to account for any and all enemies within the base, locate the salamander contract scroll, and, if possible, find what remains of Gatou's riches."

"Do we have any general knowledge on the building, or are we rushing in blindly?" One nameless clone from the division asked.

"We have no info on this building. Any other questions?" Naruto asked.

"If we encounter enemies-" one clone began.

"If it is but a single enemy, knock them out and tie them up. If it is a group of enemies, do not engage." Naruto cut across. "Oh, and when you map out the building Masuta, report back."

Masuta nodded and changed form, as did most of the clones in her division. Where Masuta stood there was now instead a mouse. Most others were also mouses, but two or three were foxes, and a couple of sparrows were thrown into the mix as well. One eagle was also present-most likely to scout the rooftops, Naruto suspected. Then there were a few clones that simply activated their clothes' special abilities.

Naruto had the workers back in the Shadow Realm custom manufacture some clothes specifically fitting the needs of the Scouting Division; lightweight and not visible. The workers had actually exceded expectations by far. All clones' clothes had the ability to camoflauge the wearer, as well as transform into the type of clothing that would be the best for a certain situation. It was capable of shielding the wearer from rain and snow, and would keep the wearer cool during one hundred degree temperatures and warm during subzero weather. All in all, it was awesome.

It was no surprise, then, that he had the workers making him his outfit with that material. They were also building spears, bows and arrows for the up-and-coming Spear and Archery Divisions. The other divisions also had custom orders for clothes to suit their needs, so the Factory was working a little slow. Naruto had to expand the Factory by twenty per cent just to maintain its current rate.

Anyway, the Scouting Division nodded and took off. All the mouses jumped out of the trees and landed on the ground, crawling through small cracks in the walls. The foxes leapt into an open window. The eagle and sparrows flapped their wings and flew through the window before pulling up and landing neatly on the rafters overhead.

Ten minutes later, the eagle flew back out the opened window and over to Naruto, who stuck his arm out. The eagle landed and lowered its beak. Naruto took the scroll out of its mouth and watched as the eagle dispersed, leaving a cloud of smoke hovering over his arm. Naruto ripped open the parchment to see the contents.

The scroll was rather long. Perfectly drawn was a layout of each floor. Marked as red dots were the enemies, and black arrows showed their patterns if they were patrolling an area. On the second floor, a large room sat on the eastern wing. It was marked, "Vault of Riches." Three red dots stood inside the vault, moving down the stairs and out the first floor's back exit before coming back in and repeating. Naruto realized that the thugs were already pillaging Gatou's riches.

Masuta appeared silently next to him. "Orders, my lord?" she asked. Naruto shook his head negative, and she nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto could also tell that every clone within the building had also dispersed. Naruto glanced to his other clones sitting in the trees. They looked at him, waiting for his orders. He nodded curtly, giving them the go signal.

Several clones leapt down and burst through the door. About thirty launched themselves through the second floor windows, and forty in the third floor windows. Thirty five more clambered into the fourth floor, and the remainder pulled themselves into the fifth floor corridor. Naruto leapt down onto the ground gracefully and strutted into the building.

The inside was very large and grand. The floor and walls were black marble. In each corner of the hall, a gray statue of Gatou stood erect. Each depicted Gatou doing some horrible thing; killing someone, stealing something, even raping a poor lady. Naruto growled and made a hand sign.

"Demon Style: Blackfire Dragon Four Corners Strike!" he said. A large blackfire dragon exploded from him and divided into four smaller dragons...not that that mattered. Each dragon collided so violently with a statue that when the explosion died out, nothing remained. Neither rubble nor ashes were present. It was just as if that had been by design.

Groups of clones were holding onto tied up bandits and thugs who had been working for Gatou. Some were bloodied, others merely bruised. One lay dead nearby. None of that mattered to Naruto for the moment.

"Shadow Realm." he merely stated. On his last journey to the Shadow Realm, he had also expanded his Home Base by about three hundred acres, to make space for some changes. One of those changes was the Prison.

The Prison was all it advertised: a jail. He had designed it based off of a new 'update' in the Shadow Realm. The enemy army had updated so that their armies were led by human simulations. If Naruto were able to capture one and bring it to the Prison, the wardens and prison staff would work on breaking the person's mental defenses. By doing so, Naruto gained info on the enemy's whereabouts and what they were planning, as well as strengths and weaknesses and other helpful information. The only drawback to this was that it was better to wait for the Prison staff to break the leader; proceeding forward without having gotten information from a leader made the enemy's Factory overproduce monsters, which effectively set back Naruto's campaign by about a mile. Of course, by waiting to draw information from the leader, the enemy army could be changing. That's part of the reason why the Scouting Division had become one of his first priorities.

Of course, the Prison could function solely as a regular prison as well. Another cool feature was that anybody other than Naruto or his allies that entered the prison had all of their abilities and skills stripped from them. Therefore, even if somebody somehow managed a jailbreak, his power would be gone and he would simply be hunted down and exterminated.

The clones nodded and jumped into small Shadow Portals, dragging their prisoners with them. Naruto strode onward, impatient to get to the second floor.

The sight he beheld on the second floor was nowhere as near impressive as the one on the first. It was designed to replicate the first floor lobby, but the fights that had taken place on this floor had ruined the image. The statues were smashed, and the ground and walls stained red with blood. Pieces of furniture were turned over, slashed and broken. Out of the twenty bandits on the floor, only three of them were still alive.

"These are the three that's been looting our cash, sir." One of the clones said. Naruto nodded and calmly walked over to the one in the middle.

"So, you've been taking my money, eh? Tell me, where did you put the rest of that cash anyway?" Naruto asked. The man looked as if he were going to spit in Naruto's face, but a clone holding onto his shoulder ended that real quick by dislocating it. The man screamed and tried to flail about, but the clone holding his right foot pulled off the guy's sandal and broke the pinky toe. He instantly fell silent, figuring out painfully that anything otherwise would result in more pain.

"We...were loading it...onto a boat...to take away." the man said through the pain. "About one hundred yards...down the hill...don't hurt me...please."

Naruto considered this for a second. "Fine. I won't hurt you." He nodded to his clones, who snapped their necks. The lifeless cadavers dropped to the ground.

"See? Quick and painless. And I didn't even do it!" Naruto said to the bodies. His clones looked at him, partially in concern for his mental well being and partially in expectation for more orders. Naruto turned to them, mental defenses back online.

"Right. Grab the loot and put it in the Vault. We're out of here." Naruto ordered. The Vault was an underground part of his main mansion in Home Base that held all of his riches. The clones nodded and started taking handfuls of gold coins, silver necklaces, and a few marble statues. Naruto smirked and disappeared.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Teams Seven and Ten stood at the edge of the now completeld bridge, saying their goodbyes to the people of Wave.<p>

"We'd best be going now." Kakashi said. The two teams nodded and walked away, still waving at the grateful people behind them.

When the bridge and the people faded from view, Naruto's emotionless face returned as he started striking up a conversation with Kyuubi.

_'Alright Kyuubi, let's play Twenty Questions!'_

* * *

><p><strong>Cut!<strong>

**There you go, guys! The next chapter will be a question and answer session, since I've been getting a lot of questions recently. If you have one, I'd suggest that you ask it in a review before I post the next chapter so that Kyuubi can answer it for you.**

**I am also pleased to announce that I will have a new crossover story out by Monday between Naruto and Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus. If you like either or both, I hope you decide to check it out! **

**So guys, that's about it for now. **

**Until next time,**

**Andrew out!**

**Who Would Win?**

**Naruto (before he can control Kyuubi's chakra) or Itachi?**

**(Edit- 12/02/11): Congrats to me! I've got my first flamer, so its time to publicly embarass them!**

**On November 26, a punkass bitch named SalemTheSpeakerOfTruth said:**

_You're a terrible author. Please stop writing._

_I don't care if there are 80 other people saying you're awesome, and to keep it up. None of that changes your terrible writing skills. It's like you're a third grader, honestly._

**So, let's start with this fact. This guy has never published a story before, and yet he dares to criticize my writing. I'd like to see you do better, bitch!**

**He doesn't tell me anything even remotely helpful. He says that 'I have terrible writing skills,' that I'm 'like a third grader.' If you're going to say that, then at least tell me what I'm doing wrong, you cock-sucking, father-fucking, monkey-ass licking bastard!**

**On top of that, he dissed my fans. He doesn't care about what you guys say about this. He's being a bitch, through and through. No matter how many good things I've seen about this story, he refuses to accept it. Fine. Go and cry in your little bitch corner. May your soul rot in Hell.**

**How am I like a third grader? Can my loyal readers answer this? **

**I deeply appreciate each and every comment I get, but not flames. There is no help in it. **

**So, if you're reading this Salem: GO CRAWL INTO A HOLE AND DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH. IF YOU DON'T LEAVE MY STORY ALONE, ME AND MY READERS WILL HUNT YOU DOWN, RIP OUT YOUR EYEBALLS AND FORCE FEEED THEM TO YOU. THEN WE'LL BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY. WHEN YOU DIE, WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT YOUR SOUL GETS A SPECIAL PUNISHMENT IN HELL.**

**Sorry if you guys considered this an update, but I really needed to get that off my chest.**


	10. Chapter 9: Home, Sweet, Home

**Hellooooo readers! I am finally back with the next chapter (which number I have forgotten) to The Demon's Blessing!**

…**What? Don't look at me like that!**

…**Ok, I get it, you were probably wondering why it took so long for me to update. My schedule is chaotic. Between school, travel, other fanfiction stories (writing, reading, and planning), and more, I've had little time to focus on this story. That, and I lost inspiration for a bit because I didn't really want to write a Q&A themed chapter. **

**See, just a little thing about that…I haven't wrote a Q&A themed chapter at all. I sat and tried and tried again and tried again, but I just could not come up with the questions I had in my mind when I thought of writing the chapter. So instead, we progress on with the main storyline, which is nearing the Chunin Exams Arc!**

**Thank you all for your support and continued patience with this story. I hope that this first chapter of 2012 clears a few things up!**

**Let's rock and roll!**

**P.S.: I finally received a flame a few months back towards Thanksgiving. I responded on my last chapter as an edit. If you want to see what I said and/or comment on it, feel free to do so. No flames, or else the same thing will happen. I don't mind constructive criticism; in fact, I take it in stride. But flames will just be used as public humiliation, or ignored altogether.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Konoha," Naruto sighed. "Home sweet home."<p>

The trip back to Konoha had been uneventful but much faster now that there was no civilian to slow them down. The only truly interesting thing that happened was the conversation between the Kyuubi and Naruto, which meant that the others did not even know about it (though the suspected it, seeing how he'd taken a vacant expression during most of the trip).

The Kyuubi had informed him on the reason that Naruto was granted the Rinnegan, saying that there was some prophecy about a "child of destiny" who would save the world or destroy it. Kyuubi was certain that Naruto was the one, and gave him the Rinnegan as a tool to help him save it. Kyuubi did not want the destruction of the world, or else he would not be alive.

Kyuubi then told him of how he was forced to attack Konoha by a strange man wearing the same clothing that Itachi, Kisame, Zabuza, and Haku wore- that of the Akatsuki. He had an orange spiraling mask that covered his face, but there was a hole for his left eye that enabled him to use the Sharingan. The Kyuubi had managed to see it just before he was placed under control. He also revealed to Naruto how the same man had ripped him from Naruto's mother forcibly. When Naruto kept pestering him to tell him who his parents were, Kyuubi relented and told Naruto that he was the son of the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki, the Princess of Whirlpool.

If it weren't for Naruto's excellent skills in controlling his emotions, the trail that the eight ninja took back to Konoha would have been littered with burnt down trees, uprooted trees, dead animals, and the like. After a while, however, he came to terms with why his dad did such a thing. As Naruto knew what it meant to be Hokage (well, not from experience, but he desired to be the Hokage), he understood that it was the only way to save the village.

Kyuubi also taught Naruto more about the Rinnegan and its abilities. At stage one, the Bansho Ten'in was unlocked, along with the powers of the other Paths. At stage two, which Naruto was at, the Shinra Tensei was learned, and the creation of the Preta and Naraka Paths. Stage three unlocked the Chibaku Tensei, along with the creation of the Human and Asura Paths. Stage four started the basics of the Creation of All Things jutsu, which would allow Naruto the ability to craft small things, such as chakra rods, and allowed the Animal Path to be created, leaving Naruto as the actual Deva Path. Stage five advanced the Creation of All Things jutsu to stuff like weapons, armor, food, small animals, and even separate limbs, such as a leg or an arm. Finally, the sixth stage finished the Creation of All Things jutsu, allowing Naruto to create humans, though it would leave him in a state of great exhaustion. At this point, his chakra control would be perfect, his chakra capacity even greater than what it should be (even with the Kyuubi's chakra), and his jutsu would be much easier to learn. Naruto was excited at the prospect of being something like a mortal god, but was a little put out at the fact that the only three ways to unlock the next level is when his life was in mortal peril, when someone close to him was killed, or when somebody close to him was about to be killed in front of him and Naruto needed more power. And to use the Creation of All Things jutsu to create living things, he would have to master both Yin and Yang chakra.

They'd spent a little more time discussing the different members of the Akatsuki that they knew of, with the Kyuubi giving as much background information on them as he could. He told Naruto that he'd have to step up his genjutsu training if he stood any chance against someone like Itachi or that masked man, while for somebody like Kisame, it would be best to just prepare himself in everything and hope that he could separate Samehada and Kisame.

They also discussed a little bit about the Shadow Realm and its current activities. Even when Naruto was not there, the Shadow Realm continued, and Kyuubi kept an eye on it to make sure things did not get out of hand. Currently, the enemy forces had beat back a small attacking force of Naruto's from the Mountains. The enemy established a camp up there, and the survivors of the failed assault were back at the castle. Naruto would have to drop in and check to see if he could flush them out. The Mountains were usually the hardest stage simply because fighting uphill was always a pain.

When the conversation ended, Konoha was looming in the distance, which made everyone speed up, desperate to get home.

"Halt!" the guard, Izumo, said, though without any real conviction. "Show us your ID."

Kakashi just stared at him, to which Kotetsu shrugged. "Just doing our job, right?"

"Fair enough." Kakashi pulled out a business like card and handed it to them. They scanned it over, and then scanned him over, before deciding that he was really Kakashi.

"What are you coming from?"

"Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, and genin squads 7 and 10 returning from C-turned-S ranked mission in the Land of Waves." He said proudly.

The two Chunin were so stunned, however, that they weren't able to say anything. They numbly handed over the ID, staring out into the distance as the two teams walked past.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto whispered. "Do you think that they'll break out of their stupor any time soon?"

"No. Not in a million years."

* * *

><p>Sarutobi sighed and rubbed his temples as he listened to this impossible and yet true story from his jonin squad leaders.<p>

"You mean to tell me that six genin and two jonin managed to hold off four S-ranked ninjas, killing two without one of our own dying?"

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but you should know by now that these genin aren't your run-out-of-the-mill ninja. These are the future leaders of Konoha, the carriers and protectors of the Will of Fire." Asuma said, pride evident in his tone. Sarutobi couldn't help but smile at his son's true words.

"Very well. Kakashi, Asuma, I would like a word with you two. The rest of you, you are dismissed. You will receive the proper dividend of the reward tomorrow at the bank." Sarutobi said. The six genin nodded and left through the door.

Sarutobi turned to his two jonin, who were staring at him intently, waiting for a command or an order.

"Now, as you know…"

* * *

><p>A week later, the six genin, along with all the clones and the commanders of Naruto's personal army, some created ninja and some wolves and other ferocious beasts, marched forward from the ends of the Forest into the Mountains.<p>

"Shino, stay with me. Release your bugs, but stay with me. We'll wait out the battle a little until we see where we are needed the most." Naruto ordered. The stoic bug user besides him nodded.

"Hinata, Kiba, Choji. You three will lead the entire attacking squad forward. Kiba is in command of the wolf division, Hinata will lead the ninja, and Choji will help lead my clones into the fray. Understood?" They nodded as well.

"Shikamaru, it may be a drag, but you are in charge of the entire army in terms of tactics. During the battle, things may go wrong, such as a squad of fire using ninja battling a squad of water demons. It is up to you to spot these problems and fix them before they balloon into something larger. Shika, you will help him." The Nara nodded his head slowly but seriously, showing Naruto that he was actually taking this seriously. The clone that Naruto addressed nodded as well and glanced at the person whom he was named after.

The Mountains of the Shadow Realm varied in size and number with each visit. This time, there were but three mountains. The first one was twice the height of Mount Everest, the second thrice the height, and the third twice the height. There were many ridges and jutting rocks expanding from the black mountains, and a trail that snaked across the mountainsides. They were so high in the sky that clouds and mist hung around what they knew was only the middle of the mountains, and birds flying around it instead of over it.

"Everyone, stay on guard. It's too quiet. That means-"

Whatever Naruto was going to say next was interrupted by a large shake of the mountain. Everybody but Naruto and his commander clones fell over. They stood up cautiously.

Nobody moved a muscle as Naruto crept forward around the bend they were about to turn. He came face to face with a hundred trees flying at him.

Naruto did a back flip off the side of the mountain as the trees soared over him. He could hear Choji's, Shikamaru's, Hinata's, and Kiba's shouts mingling with Shika's, Anju, Jake's, Hyosuke's, Kogeri's, Masuta's, and Nero and Niko's, two twin clones bosses of the new Spearmen and Archery Divisions, respectively.

Nero was slightly taller than Naruto, with red hair that was black at the tips. He wore the same thing as Naruto with a bow slung over one shoulder and the quiver of arrows over the other. Niko was slightly shorter than Naruto, with black hair that had red tips. He wore the same thing as Shika, but he usually had a spear strapped to his back. Now, however, floating through the sky, he could see glimpses of Nero calmly aiming arrow after arrow into wolves, monsters, and creatures alike, while Niko was skillfully wielding a spear with electricity coursing it.

Naruto stopped falling as a black mass of small specs formed under him, supporting his weight. Shino floated next to him on his own bug disc, helping Naruto up. The two quite wobbly made their way towards the top of the mountain to survey the battle.

Kiba and the wolves were squaring off against some enemy wolves, snakes, and plants, with Kiba and Akamaru fighting a werewolf. The ninjas of his army were assaulting some tall giants, a few Cyclopes, and giant animals, while Hinata was losing a battle against what the two genin identified as the commander and human simulation of the enemy army. Choji was battling with Jake, Nero, Niko, Kogeri, and three members of the Kenjutsu and Assassination Divisions each in a ring of enemies. Hyosuke, Anju, and Masuta were supporting each other by travelling around and taking out the larger and tougher monsters. Shikamaru and his clone counterpart, Shika, were signaling for the spiders to be released.

Immediately, several hundred giant, pitch-black spiders were released from cages that some of the clones had been carrying. The spiders scuttled out, and on them several clones with bows and arrows rode. The creepy crawlies caused havoc with different activities, such as running up the mountain and giving their archer riders great shots and charging enemy clones or other smaller animals and either crushing, eating, or spraying them with acid. A few wolves charged but were swept aside. The enemy army was thrown into temporary confusion at the revelation of the new part of Naruto's forces.

"Shino, head over to Hyosuke, Anju, and Masuta and help them. I'll go help Hinata." Naruto said. Shino nodded and flew off. The bugs that had been carrying Naruto flew after him, and the genin fell through the air, his katana aimed downwards, ready to slash the human simulation in half.

Hinata jumped back, much to the enemy leader's confusion, just as Naruto came descended upon the scene. Unfortunately, the leader decided that if his opponent was putting distance in between them for no apparent reason, he should as well. The enemy jumped away as Naruto landed with his blade cutting six inches deep into the ground.

Naruto stood quickly and pointed his katana at his newest enemy. "Either you can surrender and come quietly or fight and come kicking and screaming."

The human didn't reply. He jumped back, doing hand seals. "Earth Style: Safe House."

Where he landed, a dirt structure formed, not unlike the dome that Naruto could form occasionally. The difference in this jutsu, however, was that the top of the dome was open, and that several bears made of stone patrolled outside, presumably to keep outsiders away.

Naruto stood stock still as several senbon needles came flying out of the top before hovering in mid air threateningly. They multiplied by a factor of ten, which filled the dark sky with white needles. They all descended on Naruto at once, who calmly looked up without a care in the world.

"Shinra Tensei." The needles were all thrown away from the blond, and the smallest bear of stone was flung off of the mountainside. Two of the remaining seven roared indignantly and started running at him.

Hinata hopped in front of Naruto and gathered chakra in both of her hands and feet as the bears closed in. She struck the first one in the face. Her chakra-enhanced hand blew it to pieces. She did a front flip over the second one as it pounced where she had been standing. Mid-flip Hinata struck the other bear with her other palm right in the middle of its back. It, too, crumbled to specks of dirt.

Naruto stepped forward and swung his katana several times. "One Sword Style: Chakra Blade Barrage!" He said. Several blue slices of chakra were emitted from his sword and flew at the base of operations of his enemy. Three of the bears hopped in the way of the attacks, sacrificing themselves in order to keep their master safe. The final three all hit the dome, and though each one cut three inches deep into the fort, it didn't do much.

Out of the top of the base came an earth dragon, roaring threateningly before firing mud bullets at the two genin. Naruto stepped forward again. "Shinra Tensei."

The earth projectiles were banished from where he stood, being flung over the mountainsides, bashing wolves and clones alike. A few mud bullets hit the dome and made small cracks, but other than that, no major damage was worth of noting. The dragon itself roared again and charged the two genin.

Naruto grabbed Hinata around the waist and gathered a massive amount of chakra in his legs. Ignoring her blush and trusting her to know what he was planning, he leapt into the air, floating about two hundred meters above the battle. He swung Hinata around a few times by her hands before letting go of her. She was launched in the direction of their opponent.

For a few seconds, Naruto was immensely worried. Hinata's face varied between emotions rather quickly. Her features flashed from shock to anger to fear before finally settling on realization and then determination. She stuck her hands out, and Naruto could see that chakra gathering around her entire body with his Rinnegan, before she collided with the dome like a human missile.

Dust billowed in all directions, blowing everything within a ten-foot radius out of the way. There were shouts, mainly from Hinata, before a silhouette emerged from the dust cloud. The enemy's leader flew out of the cloud, smashing against the jagged rocks of the mountains before stopping at Naruto's feet. Hinata calmly walked out after him, covered in dust but otherwise fine.

Naruto created two clones. "Take him to the Prison."

They nodded, picked up the human simulation, and disappeared silently. Naruto looked at Hinata and smiled, which she returned with a cute blush to match.

"You did good, Hinata-chan."

Her blush intensified even more, this having being one of the first times he called her with the affectionate suffix attached. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

He turned his attention away from her and surveyed the rest of the battle. The enemy was retreating now that their leader was gone, but Naruto's side was still launching ninjutsu and arrows at them. Naruto understood that they were ensuring that the message had been sent that they were superior and trying to dwindle the enemy forces down, but he halted them from wasting more supplies and energy.

He and Hinata went around, surveying the damage done to their forces and searching for their friends. Shino looked a little battered and bruised from taking on a large scorpion that had found its way to the carnage and destruction. Kiba seemed scratched up, and Akamaru was sleeping already, but thankfully neither had been bitten and turned into a werewolf. Choji was mostly ok, besides dizziness from overuse of his jutsu and minor chakra exhaustion. Shikamaru was fine, having been able to avoid most of the fighting. The rest of the clone commanders were also ok, with the exception of Niko, who had been dispelled sometime during the fight, signaling that he still needed work when it came to the spear, a traditionally unused weapon in the ninja world. Out of the two hundred spiders, forty had been killed. Thirty percent of Naruto's forces total were incapacitated, and ten percent of that was the fatalities of the battle.

Naruto approached Shika. "Set up some sort of border patrol here, and a small camp as a marker and stronghold. Take whatever clones you need, but make sure that until I can get back here, this position isn't lost."

Shika contemplated for a few moments. "I need Anju and the Kenjutsu Division, Masuta and the Scouting Division, Jake and the Ninjutsu Division, and Nero and the Archery Division."

"They're under your command for an indefinite period of time."

Naruto returned his attention to his friends. "Let's head back to the Home Base so we can pick up Kyuubi and get out of here."

Kyuubi was a valuable weapon, and everybody knew it, but Naruto left him back at Home Base because it wasn't entirely out of the question that an attack could be launched on it. Though the forces clashed at the Mountains, every once in a while the enemy spawned these objects that either burrowed underground and came up behind their lines with massive amounts of enemies or simply teleported their army to Naruto's front yard. This had happened several times, and the first time it had Naruto had very nearly lost his world. Luckily, Jake had stayed back waiting for something from the Assembly Line that would boost their ninjutsu's power, and he and the Ninjutsu Division held out long enough for Naruto and Kyuubi to come back and defend the stronghold.

The other five nodded as Naruto opened a Shadow Portal with practiced ease. One by one they entered the portal until Naruto himself leapt through gracefully.

They appeared right before the main gate to the mansion-like property of Naruto's. The owner of said property bit down on his thumb and swiped it across a sheet of paper. It glowed blood red before turning back to the original white color. Naruto pushed opened the gate and held it for his friends. Together, the six of them trailed to the main house, where most of the meetings took place.

The Kyuubi, who was waiting for them, instantly greeted their arrival at the house.

"Hey. Are you ready to go?" he asked. They nodded.

"Alright then. Let's get out of here." Another portal opened up, this one created by Kyuubi, as the others stepped through, followed by the fox himself.

They landed in an empty training ground. The sun was still high in the sky, which led Naruto to believe that it was around eleven o'clock in the morning. He turned to the others.

"What will you guys do?"

"Well, since we have the day off, I'm going to go and train with my father." Shino mumbled.

"Same as Shino, except with my mom and sis." Kiba said. Akamaru gave a bark in agreement.

"I've got to resupply my stockpile before heading to a clan meeting." Choji mentioned before stuffing his face with more barbeque-flavored chips.

"It's a drag, but I've got to go prepare for a clan meeting as well." Shikamaru mentioned.

"K-Kakashi-sensei promised me t-that he would h-help my training." Hinata said. Her stutter, while mostly dissolved, resurfaced every once in a while.

"That's nice. I'll guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then?" Naruto asked.

"Sure." They promised. They all left one by one, leaving Naruto alone in the field. He turned to the direction of the Hokage Tower, but he was…different. His cerulean eyes, normally full of life, was now hardened and icy. Combined with the clothes he wore, and the blond hair that now framed his face much like his father's did, he simply exuded maturity that a child his age should not. He looked more like a shinobi of his village now then ever.

"You better be ready, oji-san, because I'm coming." He muttered to himself, before disappearing in a shower of leaves.

* * *

><p>Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he reread through a report filed by a civilian landlord. According to him, Naruto had damaged his building with a stray jutsu or another. He was demanding compensation from the genin for the repairs of the building. The amount was simply ludicrous, however. Unless Naruto had demolished the building, there was no plausible way that the damage could cost so much. On top of that, at the time the landlord claimed that Naruto had damaged his building; Naruto had been on a C-ranked mission as a replacement for Choji Akimichi to escort a merchant from Konoha to a nearby smaller town. Sighing again wearily, the aging Hokage stamped the paper, declining it, before turning his attention to his buzzing secretary.<p>

"Yes, Miko?" He asked his secretary through the two-way intercom installed in his desk and hers.

"The boy is here to see you." She said with no small amount of disdain and venom. Hiruzen immediately registered that she was talking about Naruto because she, like so many others, saw him as the Kyuubi.

"Send _Naruto, _one of the ninja under _my _command, in."

"…Yes, Hokage-sama." She sniffed. Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, slightly satisfied. The only time he enjoyed being Hokage was in times like these, where he made people listen to him. Imposing his will was fun…just so long as he did so within the laws of the village. If he even toed a line, things would spell disaster.

Seconds later, the door opened, revealing a mop of bright blond hair that was unique to only Naruto. The genin closed the door behind him before turning to the Hokage with a very serious look on his face that made the Hokage sweat oh-so slightly. When Naruto revealed his serious face, that usually meant that he found something out that somebody was trying to keep from him, or that something bad was happening, was going to happen, or happened. Both of these options were particularly troubling, because Sarutobi always worried that Naruto would discover that he was being lied to, or that the council did something that would make Naruto suffer.

"Turn the privacy seals on, please." Naruto asked. Hiruzen did as he asked, wondering what made Naruto ask such a request. He felt dread rise up in his gut. Hiruzen had a feeling that the following meeting would be about a topic that he'd tried to stay away from.

The seals were on, yet Naruto still didn't speak. He sat down in front of the Hokage's desk and stared at the battle-hardened warrior for what seemed like hours. Hiruzen, however, understood the message and made a signal. The two ANBU hidden in the room silently disappeared.

Naruto still said naught a word. Instead, his eyes flickered upwards every few seconds. Hiruzen was puzzled for a few minutes. There was nothing above them, besides the venting system…

With speed and grace no man of Sarutobi's age should have, the Hokage jumped up, onto his desk, and grabbed the prone ninja from the vent. He held him against the wall.

"Please, do tell why you're spying on the Hokage, a crime punishable by death?" The severity of the crime had to do with the fact that one of the strongest ninja in the world was being stalked. Nothing good usually came out of that, and as such the crime was harsh as a deterrent to fan girls/fan boys. In other words, it served as a way to kill off those threatening world leaders, and gave the Kages that everybody lusted after- the Yondaime Hokage and the current Godaime Mizukage being two prime examples- breathing space from their adorers.

The ninja did not say anything, which was partially understandable because of the position the Hokage had put him in. Still, the wizened shinobi knew that he wasn't exerting that much force on the spy and so started surveying his current captive. He found a certain symbol.

"So, you work for an organization known as Root, huh? Strange, Danzo had one with the very same name years ago…but I ordered him to disband it… but, then again, this is the very same symbol…" Sarutobi muttered, mostly to himself. He was sure that this was a spy set on him by Danzo, his political rival of more than thirty years. If he were honest with himself, the chance at locking Danzo away for insubordination of his village leader was one Hiruzen would take ten times out of ten. The problem here was that he didn't have definitive proof that he worked for Danzo. He may wear the same clothing and serve under the same organization, but that didn't tell him that Danzo was still running it. Danzo was known for finding loopholes faster than anyone else, and it had taken Sarutobi a day to remember that he told Danzo to disband it. The loophole being that though Danzo might disband it, his followers might reform it. He couldn't even be sure if Danzo was involved at the moment.

Still, Sarutobi hit the buzzer on his desk. "Miko, send for ANBU squad six immediately."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

It took all of ten seconds for the ANBU squad to appear outside his door. Naruto opened it for them. The faceless men and woman looked at him before kneeling to their Hokage.

"You have summoned us, Hokage-sama?"

"Indeed I have, Eagle. Take this man to the T&I Division for spying on the Hokage. Try to get Ibiki and Anko make him spill the beans about his reasons. If he has a seal on his tongue, break it."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The ANBU squad grabbed the offending Root agent and left the room. While Sarutobi reactivated the privacy seals that had stopped working once the door was opened, Naruto looked at the door, his always-active Rinnegan functioning once more. He watched as the ANBU and Root agent left, their chakra signatures disappearing.

Both the Sharingan and the Byakugan were derived from the Rinnegan, with the Hyuuga Clan deriving from a Senju thousands of years ago that could not use his clan's jutsu but instead was able to use his eyes in a primitive Byakugan of sorts. This meant that they had powers that came from the Rinnegan itself, which meant that Naruto was able to use it. The problem was that it was not nearly as powerful as the later versions of it. Naruto could see his enemies and predict their movements occasionally, and even then it was only for a short while. He was unable to copy ninjutsu, but could see all chakra, though not nearly as refined as the Byakugan or even the Sharingan. It was decent enough, however, to make him like a sensor-type ninja, except he saw chakra instead of feeling it. In this sense, he could see the ANBU and Root agent's chakra signatures fade quickly, leaving only him and the old man.

"Now that we are finally truly alone, Naruto-"

The Hokage was cut off by ice cold, rusty daggers spoken by the young man in front of him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The familiar warmth of Naruto's tone was long gone, replaced by a frostiness only the worst of weather from the Land of Snow could produce. Yellow bangs shadowed his eyes completely. The way Naruto was holding himself at the moment painfully and forcefully reminded Sarutobi of the way Minato used to do the exact same when upset by something, usually after coming back from slaughtering thousands of men, knowing that usually the only thing they were guilty of during the war was faithfully serving their villages, their homelands, and fighting to protect their families. Minato had been a very compassionate man, even if he didn't always look the part.

"Tell you what, Naruto?" Sarutobi replied just as harshly. Though Naruto held a special place in his heart, he was still Hokage. He needed to show Naruto that, especially if the upcoming conversation was what he thought it would be about.

"Oh, not much. You know, just that little tidbit of information that I am the son of the Yondaime Hokage." Naruto said, looking up, a cold wave of anger in his eyes.

"So, you found out." The aged Hokage said rather than asked. They looked at each other for a few moments, the Hokage sadly and the genin angrily, before the Hokage sighed and leaned back in his chair. This action, more than anything, showed Naruto that the Hokage truly was an old man that yearned to go to bed after a long day, but still did not relent on the issue.

"Who told you? Or did you work it out yourself?"

Naruto snorted. "I had a suspicion all along- oh, come off it, old man, it isn't that hard to work out. I had my first guess at it when I was eight, after those two years of training from Kakashi and Anko began, which made me much more mature, smarter, and observing. Once I finally noticed the giant picture of the Yondaime behind you, I instantly realized that he looked a lot like me, once you think of my eyes before the Rinnegan activated. The Kyuubi finally told me on the way here."

Sarutobi's pipe dropped from his mouth. "You've been in contact with the Kyuubi no Kitsune?"

"Yes, and before you flip out and have a stroke- which would be a shameful way to die, really- the Kyuubi is a benevolent spirit that was controlled by some Uchiha or another and forced to attack Konoha. He's done a lot more than most of the Kami-forsaken residents of this village have ever done for me. My Shadow Style is thanks to him; my Fox Style taijutsu stance was learned from him; and, last but certainly not least, my Rinnegan comes directly from the Kyuubi. Oh, and he even started converting his chakra into mine, so I now have my already vast chakra stores plus seven tails' worth of chakra at my disposal."

Sarutobi appeared too shocked to say anything about the Kyuubi, so Naruto pressed on. "So, do tell me, why have you lied to me about not knowing who my parents were?"

Naruto's voice brought him out of shock. The old man sighed once more. "Naruto, your father was a very respected man inside of the village. Outside of it, however, he was feared by many, and hated by Iwa. If I had announced that you were the legacy of the man that had killed thousands of Rock ninja, you might have started another war between Iwa and Konoha, and you would have assassins after you daily. They hated him so much they would risk starting another Great Shinobi War just to kill you."

"I care not why you didn't tell the village that I was his son. Why didn't you tell me?"

Hiruzen sighed yet again. "Before he died, your father wrote a note to you- his final wish, if you will. He said that, for your safety, you should take the surname of your mother, and that I- or whoever is the Hokage at the time- should tell you of your parentage when you made Chunin or turned seventeen."

Naruto was silent for a short period of time before he too sighed. "I see. Who else knows that I am his son?"

Sarutobi thought for a moment. "Jiraiya, Tsunade, her assistant, Shizune, Kakashi, and I were all present at your birth, just days before the Kyuubi attacked. If I were honest with myself, Hiashi Hyuuga was close to your father, so he might know. Besides that, nobody else I can name for sure. Shikaku Nara and Shibi Aburame, I have my suspicions. You look so much like your father, it wouldn't take two geniuses like them to figure it out."

"Tsunade, as in, the Tsunade of the Three Legendary Sannin?"

"Of course. Your mother and Tsunade were close friends, which naturally meant that she would be present at your birth."

"So then why did nobody adopt me? They could have taken care of me."

"Tsunade and Shizune left two days before the Kyuubi attacked- a day after you were born- for important business in some land or another. Jiraiya left after the Kyuubi attacked to maintain his spy network. Kakashi was an ANBU captain, so there really wasn't any way he could protect you with all the work he had. I couldn't because I'm Hokage, plain and simple. I cannot find Tsunade anywhere, so I haven't been able to tell her that you are alive- she believed you dead after the sealing. Jiraiya, as you know, tries to help you, but can only do so much on his short visits to Konoha. Since you know so much already, I might as well inform you that Jiraiya is your godfather."

"I…see."

Naruto was silent for nearly five minutes, which the Hokage used to stare at him worriedly. Finally, the sun-kissed blonde looked up, the distantness gone, replaced with determination.

"Since I am now aware of my parentage, I am entitled to what was left in my father's will, correct?"

Sarutobi took another puff of what he was smoking. "I suppose you are."

"I demand to look at it this very instance."

Sarutobi sighed but nodded and stood. He walked over to the picture of the Yondaime. Grabbing the frame, he gently pushed it to the side, revealing a vault imbedded in the wall. Sarutobi opened it by channeling some of his chakra into the seal placed right in the middle of the vault. He reached inside and grabbed several pieces of parchment. Walking to the desk, Naruto picked them up as the wizened Hokage placed them down.

The first one read, "The Will of Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage, Yellow Flash of Konoha." Naruto opened it and scanned for his name.

"It says here that the Namikaze compound is now officially mine, as well as his riches and Namikaze bank account. Also, I have the rights to learn the Rasengan and the Hiraishin." The legacy of the Fourth looked at the Third, who nodded towards two other scrolls, one labeled Rasengan, and the other Hiraishin. He placed the will aside and grabbed a different piece of paper.

This one had no label on it, which made Naruto want to read it all the more. He opened it up and started reading.

_Dear Naruto,_

_If you are reading this, then I am dead. Who am I? I am Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash, and the man proud to be your father. _

_I really don't know what to say here…it's weird, writing a farewell letter to a baby. Yet, the Kyuubi is here, and I must go and combat it. With the way I plan on fighting it, I will die. I hope that you can forgive your old man for doing this._

_I assume that you hold the Kyuubi in you. I only chose you because I cannot bring myself to force another family to hand over their child to such a fate. The Namikaze line has this weird nobility streak that I hope and yet worry that you will inherit. Anyway, I can't bring myself to do it, so I will use you instead. Please, son, forgive me, but my duties as Hokage come first._

_I really don't have any idea what to say to you right now, because I still hold on to the hope that you will not have to read this. But if you are, I love you, and I wish you the best. Hopefully, the people of Konoha can recognize my last wish, and regard you as a hero for all the suffering I am putting you through._

_Good-bye son, and good luck._

_With the deepest of love and regret, _

_Minato Namikaze._

Sarutobi watched carefully as Naruto read the passage over and over a few times, before blinking in shock more than a few times as a few stray tears fell onto the paper. Naruto's hand shook so badly that he almost dropped the paper. The normally unshakeable and distant boy was actually crying, something nobody had witnessed in over eight years.

Then again, he couldn't really blame Naruto. It was the first relic his father had ever left directly for him. After fourteen years of silence, he finally had a piece of his father with him.

Naruto sniffed quietly and quickly wiped away his tears before turning away from the Hokage. His eyes were red and puffy from the crying. That was something he preferred not to be seen.

The rest of the papers were just notes on projects Minato intended to begin, had begun but not finished, or had finished entirely. Naruto drooled at all of the jutsu his father had created. It seemed that his father had been Wind and Lightning natured, for almost all of the jutsu focused on those two elements, with smaller notes on Fire and Earth techniques, and none at all on Water. There were also ninja techniques that did not classify under an element, such as an unfinished enhanced Poison Fog technique, and another technique that allowed the user to accelerate from zero to over sixty miles an hour instantly when they ran in a straight line.

"Where's the stuff for my mother?" Naruto suddenly asked, turning back to the wizened professor. His eyes had returned back to normal, though whether that was the eyes or the Kyuubi at work, Sarutobi knew not.

"Your mother sent all of her letters and her will back to the Village Hidden in the Tides, in the Land of Whirlpool. Unfortunately, the village was destroyed by Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri directly after the Kyuubi attack, for the people who ruled the village- the Uzumakis- were masters at the art of sealing, and they were scared of that. Konoha and Uzu had been allies, but with Konoha as weak as it is, and Suna nowhere near being able to help out a land so far away, and all other allies way too small to help Uzu, the other three conjoined, killed every last person in the village, and razed it with Fire jutsu. There are ruins at the spot of the village, but we don't know what lies there. It is possible that your inherited objects are still there, however."

Naruto nodded and looked back at the will and his father's letter, placing everything else in one of the several sealing scrolls he had within his Shadow Pocket. He pocketed those in his jacket. "And where can I find my new home?"

"On top of the Hokage Monument, deep within the forest that lay behind it, the Namikaze compound is present." Sarutobi answered. The blonde gave the old man a small smile before nodding and leaping out the window.

Inside the office, Sarutobi sighed once more. "I hope you can forgive this village's ignorance to your legacy, Minato." He glanced at the picture of the indifferent and deceased Hokage one last time before settling down to do his work.

If he'd watched any longer, he might've noticed with strange fright, shock, and curiousness that the portrait of the dead Namikaze was now scowling in anger.

* * *

><p>"Naruto, where are you taking us?" Kiba exclaimed in frustration. His team had just finished practicing with Asuma when Naruto, followed by a confused-looking Hinata and a distinctly ruffled-appearing Shino, came rushing up to them, telling all three to follow him. That had been nearly an hour ago. Now, they were wandering the forests on top of the Hokage Monument, with Naruto holding what looked like a map in his hands.<p>

"You'll see," was Naruto's laconic reply. The rest of the group groaned as one. All of them, even the stoic Shino, had pestered Naruto several times throughout the last sixty minutes about him leading them through the forest, with his answer being the same as always. With such a long journey, it naturally felt like they were just moving in circles, though their innate directional skills told them they were steadily moving south, with an occasional western or eastern slant.

There was five more minutes of silence before Naruto randomly stopped. Hinata, who was walking directly behind him, crashed into him, and the others into her, with Shikamaru having been lucky enough to be at the very back and have enough time to avoid the situation. Yet Naruto stood so firmly that the others, even big-boned Choji, were thrown back from him, instead of them falling on him.

"What gives, man?" Kiba said angrily, hopping to his feet after dusting himself off. Akamaru had bitten him in the confusion of falling. The dog had been sleeping peacefully, but as a ninja dog, anything that came suddenly, such as a sudden awakening, would cause it to attack the closest living thing purely out of reflex.

Shikamaru, who hadn't said anything, walked to stand next to Naruto, his jaw dropped and eyes widened, like Naruto's. The others followed their line of sights and had the same reaction.

The clan compound was just as large, if not larger, than the Uchiha compound, which took up nearly a quarter of Konoha alone. It shouldn't have been able to fit on top of the Hokage Monument, yet it did, and Shikamaru had a nagging feeling that it was due to some seals Naruto had pointed out earlier but could not identify. From outside the twenty-foot tall, intricate, black gate made of the finest iron, the six could see that shops lined streets, posters advertising what was sold at each shop at their very low prices. There seemed to be a shift at towards the eastern part of the compound, as the shops disappeared and the streets became smaller. This, they suspected, was where the homes were. And in the center of the compound, a five-story building rose magnificently. If Naruto had to guess at his what meager information he had on his father's clan, he would say that the masterpiece was where the head lived.

That was fine by Naruto. After all, as last Namikaze, he was automatically head of the clan.

First, however, they had to get inside the compound. The six gathered around the gate's entrance. There was a seal right in the middle of it. Shikamaru, Shino, and Naruto, the three in the group that had a basic to intermediate knowledge of seals, pushed forward and started meticulously picking it apart.

"Let's see here…" Naruto murmured. "There are two limiters of some sort on here."

"I see a chakra path leading to a limiter, and a different path leading to the other." Shino added.

"It's probably a blood path. Only those of the Namikaze blood can enter, and most likely, those the head allows access." Shikamaru decided. He had the most experience when it came to seals. Naruto had sworn to make a Sealing Division some time ago, but he'd never really gotten around to doing it.

'_I lied to myself, didn't I?' _he thought dryly. He resolved to get started on it soon. He wanted to be an excellent ninja in all arts, not just like Kakashi, renowned for his ninjutsu, Gai for his taijutsu, Kurenai for her genjutsu, etc.; yet he wasn't going to get there by neglecting fuiinjutsu, arguably the toughest of the ninja arts.

"The limiter seems to be a turning point for either path, as after it connects with the limiter and comes out the other end, the path slants towards the other." Shikamaru continued.

"And the two paths conjoin at this point here, which seems to be a collector with a remembering device attached. Most likely so that if the chakra signature ever tries to enter again, the gates will open without question." Shino concluded.

"I'll need to fix that. It won't do if someone such as Sasuke-teme was able to enter, since his blood should be the same as his parents and I know for a fact they were allowed to enter when they pleased." Naruto murmured before another thought struck him.

"Stand back." He said to the others. They looked at each other before shrugging and complying. He did a few hand signs, drawing on the shadows nearby.

"Shadow Style: Shadow Virus," he muttered. The shadows sent forth small, thick tendrils that attacked the seal.

The seal didn't take the attack kindly.

The first batch of tendrils- nine in all- all came in from different sides- one from each side of paper, one from every corner, and one directly at the center of the seal. They started infecting the paper that kept their controller out, but it fought back, glowing a bright white in color. The one that attacked the center was destroyed instantly, and Naruto winced as he felt something akin to a knife slice his arm- the effect of the destruction of a tendril carrying the Shadow Virus. Three more were destroyed like that before Naruto created a new batch of nine. The combined force of fourteen tendrils proved too much for the measly seal, and the whole combination was rearranged until it held the kanji for "Shadow" in the middle. Naruto grinned and pushed the gates open.

The compound was even more beautiful from the inside. Through exploration and the memory transfer of shadow clones, Naruto and his friends discovered that there was a training ground, weapons dojo, library, park, garden, and obstacle course consisting of a two-hundred foot tall rock that shook and clashed and sometimes randomly grew spikes or spit water/lava or both, carrying a one-hundred pound weight while dodging blunt weapons, and other extreme challenges. With the sun setting in the direction it was, the orange sky added an artistic feeling.

"Listen, Naruto," Kiba said after checking out the library, which Hinata had commented on, noting that it was just as big, if not bigger, than the Konoha Public Library, "it's been fun and all, but it's late. We've got to get home, right Akamaru?"

Kiba's white ninja pup barked in agreement. The others also nodded, showing that they, too, needed to get home.

"Alright guys, well I guess we'll continue this tomorrow?" Naruto said, just noticing how late it actually was. Dinner was in full swing by this point.

"If we do get the time, I don't see why not." Choji replied. Shikamaru, who looked to be sleeping while on his feet, nodded, though whether he was agreeing to Choji or something else in his dreams was to be left undetermined. Choji hauled Shikamaru over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before saying his good-byes and leaving via Shadow Portal Naruto had provided for them. The others left in the same fashion, and Naruto went to the clan head's house, ready to spend his first night in the place where his people once lived.

* * *

><p><strong>OMFG IT'S DONE AND RELEASED!<strong>

…

**Sorry about that. My muse had completely abandoned me when I had a chance to write, and by the time she returned, I was too swamped in schoolwork and extracurricular activities to really work on this. Rest assured, she has been punished severely for abandonment without notice.**

**To me, the chapter progressed nicely until the end, when I rushed, finally seeing the end in sight. Of course, having sat and typed over five thousand of this nine thousand, one hundred word chapter all in one go tends to make you just want to finish, no?**

**Once again, I apologize about the cancellation of the Q&A chapter, but it was something I just couldn't do, no matter how hard I tried. **

**Don't get your hopes up in terms of a description of Naruto's new house. Home interior description is not something I'm good at. For your benefit, though, just think of his apartment, but a thousand times better, five floors of space, and a lot dustier.**

**Come on, nobody's inhabited the place since the Fourth Hokage. Surely the evil dust bunnies would overrun it?**

**There's a new poll on my profile about whether or not I should start a new story. Please, check it out. I don't know when it will end, so vote while you can, before I get into the termination mood.**

**Also on my profile is a status update on all my stories. I try to update every Sunday evening, but I might not, because I will have to ease into the tradition of doing it every week. Rest assured, though, it will be updated by that Tuesday at the very latest. **

**Um, not much more to say. So, I guess this is goodbye for now?**

**Take the time to leave your thoughts and criticisms in a review!**

**Ja ne!**

**WHO WOULD WIN?**

**Sakura (Shippuden) or Sasuke (pre-Shippuden, Curse Level 2)**

**Personal thoughts: Sasuke**

**Reasons: 1) No matter what, Sakura will never be able to let go of her 'love' for the Gaylord, so it's not like she would actually strike against him.**

**2) Sasuke in this state would most likely place a lovely little Chidori straight through her heart for being annoying and getting in his way for power.**

**EDITS (3/26/12)**

**1) So I got a few messages about the chapter not being viewable. Not sure if that was my fault or the website's, but I deleted the chapter and uploaded it yesterday. If something like that ever happens again, just let me know.**

**2) Again, this SalemTheSpeakerOfTruth guy came back to flame me. This is the second time.**

**My question to him is, if this story is so terrible, then why do you keep coming back? Just to be a hater? To troll, to flame, to try to keep me from writing.**

**Not happening. **

**I also noted that he's never written a story, despite the fact he's been up on this site for about three years.**

**Funny how somebody who criticizes your writing hasn't written anything.**

**So, again, if you're reading this, Salem: FUCK OFF.**


	11. Chapter 10: New Faces

**Hey everybody, I'm back with the next chapter of The Demon's Blessing! WOOHOO!**

**Thanks to all my reviewers who've not forgotten this story, despite the fact it hadn't updated in about four-five months (between two chapter ago and last chapter, excluding the author's note). You guys rock!**

**Speaking of reviews, I noticed (as I write this, of course) that I surpassed the 100-review mark! I really never thought that this story, a by-product of a hot and fizzled mind in ninety-degree summer weather in Georgia, would make it this far. **

**To all those that reviewed, thank you. You guys are the best fans ever. I may not get the most reviews, but having a good-sized number of great reviewers are better than having a large-sized number of fickle reviewers.**

**Ok, enough of my mushy crap. Let's get the action underway!**

**P.S: A fair bit of warning- this is more or less a filler chapter, but there are some introductions towards important characters, and some background info and such.**

**P.S.S: This chapter starts the Chunin Exam arc, which shall be different from canon…**

* * *

><p>The next day, Naruto woke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, having thoroughly enjoyed the sleep in the master bedroom's king-sized bed.<p>

Ok, so maybe it was more "emperor-of-the-universe" size, but, who cares about details?

He had found it covered in dust like so many other objects in the house- everything, to be exact- and first didn't know what to make of it. While the bed had certainly looked comfortable enough, the walls of the room were covered in various pictures of his father or his mother. She was a very beautiful redhead, Naruto had discovered, with blue eyes and fair skin. The caption of one particular photo with her, his father, and Jiraiya in it told him that her name was Kushina Uzumaki. This gave him a lead as to what to look for when he visited Whirlpool's ruins.

But Naruto digresses. He had an internal debate over whether or not he should sleep in the room. It was only right he should- master bedrooms are meant to be slept in by the head of the clan- but with all the pictures of his dead parents around him, he wasn't sure whether he was going to break down crying about their fates or happy that he was sleeping with memories of his deceased parents. In the end, he decided to ignore them, and summoning Metsui and the Clean-Up Division, had them clean up the room to at least a fairly decent situation. The bed, of course, took priority in cleaning, and Naruto was satisfied with both the material and the coolness that resulted from the cleaning, as it was springtime, turning summer, and thus a warm night, even for Konoha's standards.

To his delight, he didn't have to go and buy any groceries for his breakfast, as there was a scroll labeled, 'Food,' in which all of its contents were still warm or edible. He had a fulfilling breakfast consisting of some cereal, two apples, scrambled eggs, and a cup of coffee to really wake him up.

Fully alert, Naruto glanced at an overhead clock, which read 8:50. Kakashi-sensei had told him, Hinata, and Shino to convene at 9:30 at their usual spot on the bridge near a small river very close to Training Ground 7. Of course, Naruto knew it to mean that they should arrive at 9:30, praying to every deity that their sensei would show up on time, only to have the prayers ignored as he showed up at least three hours late with a ridiculous excuse. Though last time he had mentioned that it was a good patience exercise-which was fairly valid (it would be more so if he wasn't so late all the time)- a ninja was never to be kept so long. Their paranoia would catch up to them all too quickly.

Sighing, Naruto summoned his boss clones, including Metsui. She immediately understood what he wanted, if her summoning of the rest of the division was anything to go by. They marched outwards, their mission to make the house and, later, the compound, as lively as possibly.

Naruto grimaced. He might need to summon Darrin and the Construction Crew for the first time in over five years.

When Naruto had first learned to use clones from Kyuubi, the first clone he ever produced successfully was Darrin, an exact replica of Naruto. He immediately tasked the clone to fix up the boy's apartment, as it had structural damage from all the attacks he had suffered in his early life. Darrin had gone and done a great amount of research on how to fix certain things before actually starting on it with the help of other clones Naruto made for him. Within the week of Darrin's creation, he had learned almost everything there was to know about home improvement, and by the end of the month, the structures had been repaired, walls repainted and repaired, floors sealed of any cracks or damage, and ceilings repainted. After that, Naruto had learned to defend himself and his home from outside danger and had been meticulous with everything in his apartment, so Darrin was no longer needed.

Shaking his thoughts of the blonde's replica and seven construction workers under the replica, Naruto turned to his remaining boss clones. With Shika, Anju, Masuta, Nero, and Jake already in the Shadow Realm, he was left with Kogeri, Hyosuke, and Niko.

"Niko, set your division on improving our spear work. It could prove to be a very useful weapon." The clone nodded silently before walking out of the house and towards the weapons dojo.

"Hyosuke, we are pretty good with taijutsu for now, so just refine your existing styles, and, if you please, start reading up on the flaws of the Gentle Fist."

"Yes, Naruto-sama." Hyosuke said before disappearing in a gentle breeze of air. Naruto turned to Kogeri, who was making kissing faces at him.

"Kogeri," he said, totally ignoring the actions, "send at least two of your division to the ANBU HQ to see if there are any leftover assassination missions. I want you to get started on the creation of the clone commander for the Fuiinjutsu Division while I'm gone."

This made Kogeri serious. "Do you have any preferences to what the clone should be like?"

"Nothing ridiculous, male, about my height, and has my facial features. Beyond that, no." Naruto replied. Kogeri nodded, summoned two of the more experienced clones, sent them away after giving them his orders, and left the room, presumably for an open space to start.

Naruto glanced at the clock once more, which told him that it had only been a ten minute gap in between the last time he checked and now (meaning it was 9:00). Sighing, he sent a clone that looked exactly like him to the meeting spot. Though he could usually spend the three hours with Shino and Hinata enjoyably, he really wanted to do some speed training right now.

He made a single hand sign and released some chakra before grunting and nearly falling over. All of his clothes had weight-increasing seals on them, so that he would get stronger and faster. They had been at one hundred pounds each for a while now, so he felt that they should be increased. He increased each by ten pounds. While separately that may not have been much, between his shirt, his pants, his cloak, his underwear (yes, they had weights), each sock, each sandal, and the two black leather fingerless gloves he had bought about three days ago, that was another one hundred pounds. While Naruto was strong, the sudden addition of such weight pushed him down quite a bit. To ease into the weight, he would constantly stream just the right amount of chakra to help him move, and when he got as comfortable with that as before, he would slowly reduce the amount of chakra until he was using none at all. Thus, he was performing both speed and strength training and a chakra control exercise.

Sighing again (he thought he was doing that a lot lately), he headed out to start doing thirty laps around the relatively large compound.

* * *

><p>Five hours later, Naruto, Hinata, and Shino were walking together, discussing their training for that day. Kakashi had given them each one jutsu to learn. For Naruto, it was "Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu," as the blonde boy had very little water jutsu in his repertoire. Shino's jutsu to learn was "Earth Style: Stone Plate Coffin," a jutsu that would raise two large slabs from the earth and smash them together so that whatever was trapped between the two would be crushed. This would help Shino get started on his second affinity, which was the common one among Aburames (all Aburames had two affinities: the particular Aburame's own affinity, and the Earth one). For Hinata, it was "Water Style: Azure Dragon Palm," a jutsu that should prove easy for Hinata to use. Basically, it was a Hyuuga palm, but once it connected (or not, it was up to the user) with the enemy, a violent spiraling wave of water would erupt from her hands, washing away her enemy.<p>

Naruto had picked up the jutsu pretty easily, as it was only slightly different from the Water Dragon Jutsu in the fact that he would form it into a shark instead of a dragon, he would launch it by thrusting his hands after the hand signs instead of just making his hand signs, and he could ride in it if he wanted to. He hadn't mastered it, but by the end of the practice, he'd performed it once and ridden in it once. Shino couldn't even start on his jutsu because he first had to separate his wind chakra and regular chakra from his earth chakra and then use that to start his chakra control exercise, which composed of moving small stone pebbles and making them into a larger stone. Hinata had made some progress on her jutsu. The palming motion needed no practice, but the release of the water chakra needed some. She could get the water to explode forth, but not enough of it and not violently enough. Instead of blasting her Kakashi clone away and dispelling it, she was knocking it back a few feet at most before dispelling it due to the palm strike rather than the water.

"Don't worry, Hinata," Naruto assured as the duo walked, with their stoic teammate a foot or so behind them, not saying anything. "You'll have your jutsu down in no time. Or, at least, faster than Shino will have his."

One of Shino's eyebrows developed a tick mark. "The slight on my inability to perform the earth chakra control exercise sufficiently was uncalled for, Naruto."

"Indeed it was." Naruto merely replied. Shino's eyebrow with the tick started twitching, but he said no more. Naruto turned back to Hinata, who was still doing that thing when she pushed her thumbs together nervously.

"I don't know… Shino l-learns very quickly. I-I'm sure that h-he will be able to p-pick up his n-n-new jutsu soon." She stuttered out. Still, it was a very noticeable improvement from before, when she was tripping over every word.

"Shino does learn fast, but you're already halfway done with the jutsu, and Shino hasn't even started. Not to mention that he has to do Earth elemental training before he can start, and elemental training takes time. Don't worry Hinata, if you practice hard enough, you'll get it down in no time." Naruto reassured. She blushed and nodded meekly, but Naruto wasn't sure that she was any better than before. Throwing caution to the wind, he decided to add another incentive.

"Hinata-chan, if you can learn the jutsu by the end of the week, I'll go on a date with you to anywhere you choose. I'll pay." He said.

The change in Hinata was startling. Her blushed deepened even further and spread into a flush, making her face look like a tomato with a blue wig on top, but a fierce determination settled into her eyes. Naruto sighed, mentally sending signals to Kogeri to withdraw some money from his bank account, and to send a few more Assassination clones on missions to replace the money he would lose on his date.

Hinata nodded furiously and appeared as if she was going to start practicing in the middle of the street (which was utterly desolate besides them), but Naruto turned away and launched a kunai behind him. Three loud yelps emanated from under a rectangular rock on the ground, followed by it moving as three small kids- Academy-aged kids- leapt from under it to dodge the potentially fatal projectile. Naruto's posture relaxed as he recognized the three kids.

"Nice try, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, but you'll have to be a lot stealthier than that if you want to have a hope of sneaking up on me." Naruto said to the trio of friends.

"So you could still sense us, huh boss? Well then, that means we just have to train harder!" Konohamaru declared. Naruto sighed. The kid meant good and was generally a nice person to be around, but sometimes the fact that he was years younger than Naruto turned Naruto away from hanging out with him and the other two more often.

They had met early in their lives, Naruto only being eight and Konohamaru five. Naruto, who had been undergoing two years of rigorous training in the day by Kakashi and Anko and then even more rigorous training by the Kyuubi at night, hadn't many opportunities to socialize with people in his demographic group. Sarutobi saw that and decided to introduce the ever- ambitious Konohamaru with the still ambitious but now more mature Naruto. He had been hoping that Naruto's new maturity would spread to Konohamaru and get the boy to stop interrupting Sarutobi's day with challenges, that Konohamaru's childishness would endear Naruto to him, and that each other would find a good friend. A few months after, Konohamaru introduced Naruto to the other two, Moegi and Udon.

"That's nice. Listen guys, my teammates and I just came back from training, so we're a little tired and such. If you don't-" Naruto tried to excuse he and his friends. Unfortunately, his mention of Hinata and Shino brought the three wanna-be ninjas' attention to them, and instantly they started bombarding Shino with questions/criticisms.

"Hey boss, is this weird guy in that heavy coat and dark glasses really your teammate?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto nodded, watching Shino's twitching eyebrow develop another tick mark from the corner of his eye.

"He dresses weird." Moegi commented, examining him. Shino's entire body gave an involuntary twitch.

"Eww! Bugs came out of his jacket! That's disgusting!" Udon cried. Shino's body gave another twitch, but what really set him off was what came next.

The glasses-wearing accomplice of the Third Hokage's grandson swatted one bug out of the air and stepped on it, crushing it.

Shino's entire body froze, something Naruto automatically assumed that Shino's anger had reached its breaking point. He had never seen Shino like this, because nobody- not even the high-and-mighty Uchiha- had ever bothered to kill an insect when the Aburame heir was nearby during their Academy days. They had all heard at least one story of what Shino's father would do during his Academy days if he ever found a murdered bug.

"Guys? You may not know this, but Shino is an Aburame…and you just killed a bug in front of him." Naruto said.

Unsurprisingly, it was Udon who first made for the nearest route away from the dangerous bug user, followed closely by Konohamaru and Moegi, respectively. Shino ran after them at a leisurely pace: enjoying the chase before he catches his prey. Naruto and Hinata jogged behind him, following to make sure nothing got out of hand.

Barely a minute into running from Shino, Konohamaru was now the furthest away, having bypassed Udon due to superior speed and stamina. He looked back at Udon and Moegi, who were on his tail, and Shino, Naruto, and Hinata, all of who were steadily gaining.

In desperation to shake off their pursuers, the three turned the corner onto a different street. Konohamaru, in the lead, smashed into somebody much larger than him, sending them tumbling backwards a little bit but not enough to knock over the person who he collided with. Moegi and Udon skidded to stops as they watched the scene unfold and observed the stranger.

The character who Konohamaru bumped into- as the trio noted there were two of them- wore a black, baggy, full-body suit with a red and yellow circle in the front. He wore a black hood with cat-like ears, which made him look ridiculous. The purple face-paint he wore did nothing to improve the status. The only thing that made him even remotely menacing to the three kids was the bundle on his back that looked suspiciously like a human body and the forehead protector around his forehead that clearly stated he was not of this village.

The second figure looked much less ridiculous but no less awkward or intimidating. She bore a light purple-colored garment that reached down to her thighs and a scarlet sash around her waistline. She also wore fishnet around her right calf, left thigh, and shoulders. Her forehead protector, which bore the same symbol as the other ninja's, was tied around her neck loosely. Her hair was a dirty blonde color and tied into four ponytails, her eyes dark green, her lips ruby red and full.

She was very beautiful- in both carnal and non-carnal traits (large, full breasts that strained against her garment; a curvy waist; round face; beautiful jaded eyes; etc.)-but held a haughty expression on her face, as if she thought herself superior to the three kids- which in many ways, she undoubtedly was. She also seemed to be pretty tense, as if she wasn't from the village and had never been and thus was scouting the area to see if she safe. The large metal beam on her back- at least, that was what it looked like at the moment- glinted dangerously in the sunlight. All in all, she was very beautiful, and very dangerous.

The male whom Konohamaru had bumped into grunted and looked down at him angrily. "Watch where you're going, punk!" To emphasize his point, the foreign ninja reached down and grabbed Konohamaru by the blue scarf around his neck, easily lifting the smaller boy into the air.

"Kankuro, put them down before you make a fool of our village." The unidentified woman spoke commandingly, like a true kunoichi, not one of those silly little ones that only cared more about looks than training and who fawned over what they perceived to be the "cool guys." This added to her beauty, because they could see that she was strong and must have trained a lot, meaning she was naturally beautiful (if she trained that much, she didn't have time to worry over her looks; thus, this beauty was natural).

"No way, Temari." The now-named Kankuro said. "This kid's got to learn to respect his elders, and I'm going to teach it to him…the hard way."

"Hey!" Konohamaru started panicking, having seen his two friends do the same, "put me down! I promise that I won't do it again!"

"Sorry, I can't take your word seriously until I know you've been taught, right?" Kankuro said maliciously. In a last-ditch plea for help, he glanced at Temari, who simply shrugged and mentioned that should Gaara learn of this, it would be his head. This led Konohamaru to believe that the boss was not even among them, and that was what scared him the most right now.

Kankuro cocked his other hand back to presumably punch Konohamaru in the face, but before it connected, he was forced to jump back as a palm strike came at him. He landed and was immediately situated to the spot by many more bugs than he could count crawling and biting his feet. He gasped in pain, but when they stopped biting, he noticed that his feet were so swollen he would not be able to move effectively.

Temari saw the palm strike and tried to draw her fan, and was halfway through opening it when she felt a cold metallic blade slide around her neck. She froze, and stiffened even further when she felt a cool voice whisper into her ear.

"You'll not want to get involved in this…do you, Suna-nin?"

Whoever was speaking simply made Temari tremble in their hands, both out of fear and arousal.

All ninja had turn-ons because they were still human. Temari's happened to be powerful people, men or women. This person was more powerful than anybody she knew, with the possible inclusion of her youngest brother, Gaara. He had to be the leader in this group here, and she could tell it so just by how strong and cold his tone of voice was. To have been able to catch her by surprise when she'd been expecting trouble like this ever since she reached Konoha meant that he was good at stealth, as Temari usually knew when she was being followed. Years of being stalked by horny teenagers in Suna, some of which were ninja, had developed her self-awareness.

Of course, the position they were in did nothing to help her. Having stopped her the way he did, he was standing directly behind her. They were about the same height, too, which meant that her ass was grinding against his penis.

It was rather like the way Hinata's teeth were grinding together, except that the duo weren't moving.

Kankuro spotted the trouble his elder sister was in and made for the bundle on his back, but Shino's flying spider bugs spat webs around the puppeteer's hands, then flew in a pattern so that they were tied together. Kankuro tried to pull them apart, but whatever the material these bugs had used, it was too strong.

"Please explain why you were about to assault the grandson of the Third Hokage." Naruto spoke calmly, but with an edge everybody heard.

Temari bowed her head, cursing under her breath. Of all the times Kankuro decided to be a bully to a child, it was towards the grandson of the Kage of the village. This could cause international problems, and with the current state of Suna, they didn't need that.

Kankuro tried to put up a brave front, when in reality; it just made him look like a fool. "The kid ran into me, so I was going to teach him a lesson. What are you going to do about it? What CAN you do about it?"

Shino pushed his glasses further up his nose. "First, assaulting any family member of the Hokage is grounds for exile from the village or death. Secondly, we have the rights to turn you over to the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Department because of you- being a foreign ninja- attacking one of our civilians."

"Or, finally, we could do nothing and watch as your friend in the tree beats the living daylight out of you." Naruto commented smoothly. Kankuro and Temari both stiffened even further and turned their heads slowly to look at the only tree on the block.

There was a redhead hanging upside down on one of the trunks by his feet. He had fair skin, and his red hair was short and spiky. He had green eyes. The male also had two distinct features: first, there were black rings surrounding his eyes, making it appear that he either used eyeliner or had never slept a day in his life. The second was the kanji for 'Love' that appeared to be written or carved into the left side of his forehead.

He wore a black full-body suit like the other male, except that the sleeves were that of a t-shirt. His pants legs reached down to about three-quarters before they stopped. There was no collar, revealing his neck to all. He also had a white cloth over his right shoulder and left side of his hips, and a leather band over his left shoulder and right side of his hips. The leather band seemed to be holding up a huge gourd of some kind. The contents of the gourd were unknown, but the three Leaf genin assumed that it was sand. The gourd itself looked to be made of sand, and since these were Sand ninja, it was the most reasonable guess. The forehead protector was attached to the band.

The five ninja felt the coldness and killing intent emitting from the redhead wash over them. Kankuro shivered slightly, as did Hinata. Temari, having felt worse, didn't, and was only slightly surprised and even more turned on when the ninja behind her didn't tremble at all. Shino didn't shiver either, but everybody could tell by his kikachu's erratic flight pattern that this person unnerved him as well.

The redhead leapt down from his position and landed easily before walking slowly over to them. Naruto released his grip on Temari and turned towards Gaara instead, one of his tanto blades still in hand. Temari jumped over towards Gaara, landing behind him, and finally got a good look at who had caught her.

She almost had an orgasm at the sight of him. He was sexy in a roguish way, with his face looking like it had been chiseled. The whiskers and blue eyes made it even better, and the locks of golden hair that framed his face made Temari want to just drag him to the nearest hotel and ride him all day. His muscles weren't so large that they were repulsive, but from being in his arms and so close to him, she knew that he was very strong and had a six-pack.

Gaara duly noted Temari's new obsession over the blonde shinobi and turned to him, assessing his power level.

For more than a second, Gaara felt an emotion he hadn't in a long time- fear. He was fearful of this blonde shinobi no older than him, perhaps even younger by months. The aura exuded by this child was greater than his own, and spelled disaster should he be messed with. Shukaku, the mighty Ichibi, was screaming about the person's eyes as well, but not in excitement of an upcoming bloodbath. The Ichibi was scared of those eyes.

But then Gaara's brutal apathy returned full force. Why should he, an untouchable shinobi and a killing machine, be scared of this guy? What could be so special about him to instill fear in Gaara's heart?

Gaara's answer came immediately. There were certain people high on the (endless) list that Mother wanted dead. This boy must be one of them.

The tension in the air was thick as Naruto and Gaara glared at each other. Beads of sweat rolled down Hinata and Kankuro's foreheads. Temari and Shino watched in awe and fear as their respective teammate didn't stand down from what they would call a freakishly strong opponent. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon all cowered behind the tree that Gaara had come from.

Finally Suna's failed attempt at a living weapon spoke in a dry, raspy voice. "You…what is your name?"

At this, Temari sagged and Kankuro sighed in relief. When Gaara asked for someone's name, they were dead before he left the area, no matter how long it took. While Temari was moaning inwardly about the loss of somebody she was hoping she could settle down with- nobody in Suna would dare touch her due to Gaara being her brother- Kankuro was glad that he wouldn't have to fight the sun-kissed blonde.

Naruto replaced his tanto in its rightful sheathe but remained tense in case he was attacked without warning. "The name's Uzumaki…Naruto Uzumaki." **(A/N: 007!)**

Gaara nodded slowly. "My name is Gaara of the Sand…remember that name, Naruto Uzumaki, for it shall be the name that ends your pitiful existence."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He had been forewarned by Kyuubi, who'd felt the Ichibi's chakra as Gaara closed in on the scene, that this was the Jinchuriki of Shukaku and most likely a psychopath with sand-wielding abilities. Truth was, each Bijuu had a seal that worked best on them, and so the first time they were sealed, it was necessary that the particular seal for them be used. Evidence of what happens when the rule is ignored was standing in front of Naruto. Shukaku had been driven to insanity because of the ignorance of the first sealer, and all Jinchurikis of Shukaku afterward were plagued with Shukaku's bloodlust, as well as insomnia and hearing Shukaku's voice at all times.

"You're a damn fool if you think you can kill me." Naruto said, flaring a little of his chakra for added effect. "I'm nine times everything you are."

Gaara stared at him for a moment before a look of recognition passed through his eyes before fading away. "Be that as it may, nobody has every touched me. My Sand Burial shall be your last sensation."

"There's a first time for everything." Naruto replied rather cheekily. Gaara stared at him some more before turning to Temari and Kankuro.

"Kankuro, you have made a fool out of our village. Next time that happens, I will see to it that your blood is fed to Mother." Kankuro, who was being held up by Temari, paled into a very sickly color.

"Let us leave." Gaara turned away from the group, but before he could go, he heard the other Konoha male call out.

"Wait. What are you Suna ninja doing in Konoha? Despite Suna and Konoha's current status as allies, any and all foreign ninja within Konoha without the proper documentation allowing them to access the village are to be either deported if rendered harmless or without knowledge of the village's workings, handed over to the ANBU for questioning, or killed if deemed to have a goal that works against Konoha."

Temari's stomach did a queasy back flip before landing in a split. Kankuro glanced worriedly at her and then at Gaara. The redhead slowly turned back to Shino and stared him straight in the eyes. Shino's body shook ever so slightly, but Gaara, seeing the shake, gave a small yet no less maniacal smirk.

Temari, knowing by the smirk on Gaara's face that the genin would not die (yet), handed over the Chunin Exam papers to Shino. His eyebrows rose near his hairline once he read them over, which cued Naruto and Hinata to look over his shoulders and look at it.

"Kakashi-sensei didn't mention anything about the Chunin Exams." Shino said monotonously.

"Though I suppose that our recent D-rank mission that include all these construction odd jobs should have hinted towards something of this magnitude occurring within our village." Naruto replied.

"Aren't you going to be participating in the exams?" Temari asked interestedly. In a big village like Konoha, unless they were going to be doing the same thing, the two groups probably wouldn't run into each other again. Temari did want to see this cutie again.

"Perhaps." Hinata replied, her voice colder than either of her teammates could remember. Temari heard the frostiness as well and smirked, figuring that she probably liked the boy as well.

"I see. Well, I hope to see you there. I'd love to prove why I'm a better kunoichi then you."

Hinata growled and looked like she was about to jump Temari, but Naruto held her back. He glanced over Temari once and looked ready to say something, but finally Gaara's thin patience wore out.

"Enough of this. We are leaving, NOW!" Gaara commanded. Temari and Kankuro drew back and together, the Sand Siblings disappeared in bursts of smoke (or, in Gaara's case, a swirl of sand).

Once the Sand ninja were gone, the three relaxed quite a bit. "Did you two see or sense his chakra?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Yes…" Shino said, his voice weaker than either of them had ever heard. "It was…scary. He is a very dangerous person, and not one to get on the wrong side off. That chakra…it was not fully human. I sense youkai within him as well."

Naruto nodded and turned to Hinata for her opinion. The blue-haired genin, however, was still glaring into the distance, teeth grinding and eyes full of fury.

"How dare that… that… that _bitch _think that she is a better kunoichi than me? Oh, Kakashi-sensei better have signed us up for the Chunin Exams so I can beat that slut up when I see her!" Hinata steamed. Naruto and Shino, unaccustomed to this side of Hinata, merely laughed off their uneasiness and dragged her away. To Hinata, though, this girl was a threat to her and Naruto's relationship, and she needed to terminate it.

If the encounter with the Sand ninja had not unnerved the trio of genin so badly, they might have noticed that on a nearby two-story building, four more unknown ninja crouched at the very edge of the roof, observing the three curiously.

* * *

><p>"That…was not cool." One blonde kunoichi said. She appeared to be of Naruto's age, but was slightly taller than him- two inches at best. She had fair skin, stunning, frosty blue eyes, straight blonde hair that framed her face. She wore a low-cut outfit with mesh underneath, a short skirt, red hand guards and high boots. A tanto was strapped horizontally on her back. Her forehead protector was tied around her waist <strong>(AN: Just a few minor changes: Samui's flak jacket that's tied around her waist is gone because she's not at the proper rank for one, and it's "replaced" by the forehead protector, which, oddly enough, Samui doesn't wear in canon)**. The most noticeable thing about her, however, was her chest; it was, without question, far superior to the average for someone of her age, at least a D-cup.

"I know, right? What if the tension between those two guys got super high, and then they started battling, and they were so powerful that the resulting explosions from their jutsu destroyed the village, and we all died, and then Raikage-sama-" The only male ranted. He appeared to be the same age as Naruto and the other girl, but was perhaps an inch shorter than the girl, making him about an inch taller than Naruto. Unlike the lady who had spoken, this individual had dark skin, dark eyes, and short, spiky, white hair. He bore a dark outfit consisting of an overlong shirt with a hood, red bandage hand guards, shin guards, and a black forehead protector that showed he was from Kumo. He appeared to be deep in thought, though there was panic clear in both his tone of voice and appearance. A white, short stick stuck out of his mouth, suggesting that he was chewing/sucking on something, like a lollipop. A katana rested on his back.

Whatever he was going to say next would not be known, as the second of the three ladies whacked him on the head exasperatedly, as if she was used to this. "Cut it out, Omoi! Have you forgotten that if they started fighting that badly, every ninja- including the Hokage himself- would come out to stop it?"

This kunoichi was Naruto's height. She, like the now-identified Omoi, possessed darkened skin, with amber eyes burning with irritation. She wore a long dress with short sleeves and frilly edges, along with two yellow ball earrings, thigh-high boots with white soles and her forehead protector worn like a bandana. **(A/N: Like Samui, Karui doesn't have her flak jacket. And yes, I am aware that I am telling you their identities ahead of the actual story, but you should have figured this out by now anyway)**.

The fourth member of the quartet remained silent, her dark eyes formed into slits as she tried to figure out what the encounter they had witnessed from the very beginning meant. She was the same height as the other blonde, had long, straight and blonde hair, and wore sandals, a short-sleeved black and purple blouse, black ANBU-styled pants, purple fingerless gloves, and a chain of white beads wound around her left hand. Her forehead protector was tied to her forehead. A holster, presumably filled with kunai, shuriken, or some other dangerous ninja tools, was strapped to her right thigh for easy access. She wore bandages around her arms and legs, and a red belt around her waist. Like her blonde friend, this kunoichi was quite busty, at perhaps a C-cup that was bordering a D.

"Yugito, are they…" the first kunoichi asked the third, totally ignoring Omoi and the second kunoichi. Yugito looked at her before sighing.

"I can't be sure, Samui. Matatabi **(A/N: The Nibi's real name in canon) **definitely recognized the blonde to be the Kyuubi Jinchuriki." Here, Yugito stopped and blushed. Matatabi was generally respectful, and she and Yugito had a very nice relationship in comparison to most Jinchuriki. After several hundred years of not having any sex (when her Jinchuriki died, she was immediately sealed into a baby prepared for the job; thus, she had no time to get laid), however, she had turned into a huge perverted cat. Whenever she saw a good-looking male, she would urge Yugito to…

Well, let's not get into that.

The fact that the boy was the container of the Kyuubi did nothing to sate Matatabi's heat. In fact, it seemed to have piqued it. That was, if her squeals of "KYU-KUN!" followed by a rapid rise in Yugito's hormones was anything to go by.

Luckily, Yugito remained in control of her body and reigned herself in before she jumped the poor boy and dragged him off to the nearest abandoned room, empty alley, or closet.

When Samui looked at her to see why she stopped, Yugito hid her blush and returned to her indifferent expression. After all, the last thing she needed was for her reputation as one of the two Ice Queens of Kumo to be ruined.

She and Samui were well known through Kumo already because of their beauty and resistance to date anybody. These two were the prettiest and most endowed kunoichi in the age range of 12-15, and yet they both were without a boyfriend.

The reason behind it was simply because all the boys that had asked them out wanted their bodies, not all of them. Not once had either girl been approached and gotten a request to go on a date or go out with somebody (there were a few lesbians after them as well) without the person's eyes sliding off their face and downward. While any normal non-slutty girl would have been offended enough to beat the shit out of them, Yugito and Samui were different. As opposed to the hot rage Kumo women were known for, these two wore masks of indifference and, when truly angered, cold and harsh fury. This, combined with the later and inevitable beat down, prevented those who asked them out from doing so again.

"Matatabi made no comment about there being another Jinchuriki, but I know that she completely disregards the Ichibi's existence, so the redhead was probably the Ichibi Jinchuriki."

Yugito, like every other Nibi Jinchuriki, knew the legend surrounding Shukaku and Matatabi. Shukaku, even before he went totally insane, was still a little bit strange. He always held this notion that he was the best, better even than Kurama **(A/N: Kyuubi's name) **and their creator, the Sage of Six Paths. As the best, he felt that he also deserved the best. Thus, the tale began.

One day, when the Tailed Beasts lived together and under the Sage, Matatabi had gone for a nighttime stroll in the forest surrounding them. During her walk, she encountered Shukaku on his hands and knees. Concerned for her fellow demon, she rushed to his aid and asked what was the matter with him.

Apparently, he was fine, except for this crazy notion that he had come up with. Perhaps he had become power-drunk and thought that Matatabi would not be able to stop him, but Shukaku spilled his plans to Matatabi. He would defeat Kurama, take Matatabi as his wife, kill the Sage (who was beginning to reach the end of his natural lifespan), rule over the rest of the Tailed Beasts, and have hundreds, maybe even thousands of demonic kids with Matatabi, until he had an army of demons that would be able to enslave humans.

Of course, Matatabi resisted these plans. When Shukaku saw that she would not become his wife, he then tried to rape her.

Apparently, he forgot that there was a reason she had more tails than him.

Never let it be said that Shukaku choose to have no genitals.

Samui frowned. "Well, if the Nibi didn't say it was the Ichibi Jinchuriki, then we can't be sure, can we?"

Omoi, who apparently had enough of his argument with Karui, turned to Samui. "We did see him manipulate sand. That's a trait only the Ichibi Jinchuriki can do."

"Not necessarily. The Ichibi's control over sand stems from his affinities to Earth and Wind and the youkai he uses to combine them. If there were another Jinchuriki with the Earth and Wind elements and had enough youkai running through their body, they could use the Sand Style as well, though admittedly it would probably be a lot weaker and much more tolling on the Jinchuriki. It's never happened because Jinchuriki tend to take on the affinity (or affinities) of his or her Tailed Beast, and none other uses this combination. Still, there's a first time for everything." Yugito replied idly.

"Whatever he is," Karui interrupted, "he is still a potential threat to our chances of becoming Chunin. I reckon that we stay out of his way, join forces and attempt to take him out during the Chunin Exams Second Stage, or work something out with those guys from Konoha. I bet they could take him." **(A/N #whatever: for the sake of the fic, all genin know of the basic format of the Chunin Exams: written exam, survival test, battle simulations. They don't know exact details. Karui is assuming that since the second stage is a survival test, they will be able to take out competition.)**

Samui sighed. Her back pains were quite annoying. "Let's get back to Killer Bee sensei."

Yugito looked at the sun. "I've got some time before I have to return to Darui-sensei. I think I'll keep following that blonde and his team…perhaps get some info we can use to our advantage should we need it." Yugito's team and Samui's team had already agreed to help each other to the best of their ability during the Chunin Exams.

Samui shrugged and turned towards her bickering teammates. "Let's return to sensei."

The three turned and leapt off the building, leaving Yugito to her own devices.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10 is in the record books!<strong>

**To be honest…I didn't really like the way this chapter came out. I felt like I was forcing myself to write, though not because I didn't want to, but because I had promised that a new chapter would be out by the end of the month. It could also be due to lack of action in the chapter. I'm a very action-oriented guy. **

**Or, was it the amount of Author's Notes in the story? I wanted everyone to know what was different and explain some things people might not know, but I feel as if that somewhat broke the flow of the chapter. Tell me whether I should reduce the amount of A/N's in the story and put them at the end of the chapter or keep it the way it is in a review, please!**

**For those that care, I have decided to put my name on the petition I mentioned in my last update (if you haven't read it, please do so. It's an important Author's Notice). **

**For those that are ignorant, the owners of this lovely site have gone bat-shit crazy recently and have started enforcing a lot more rules and regulations. Stories with lemons and excessive gore in it are going to be taken down, along with stories that involve large amounts of text being read (i.e.: Hogwarts reads Harry Potter). As I have said that I would be writing lemons, this may affect me. Luckily, I have not gotten to that point yet, so my story cannot be taken down…I don't think. And, as I said, I'm not going to risk my entire story for a few scenes that ultimately don't affect the main storyline all that much (I could easily skip the scene and go to the aftermath of it). So, for now, consider this story to be lemon-free. If this all blows over, we might see a return of lemons. **

**I don't know what else to say…so I guess this is it?**

**See ya next time!**

**WHO WOULD WIN?**

**Minato Namikaze or Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze (current-day)**


	12. Chapter 11: Start of the Exams

**Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the latest update to The Demon's Blessing, Chapter 11! I am your host and author, ILoveThisStory2, and boy, am I psyched to get this out! It usually takes me forever to update my stories due to a smattering or reasons (dying computers, school, summer programs, summer work, etc.). But I'd say this is a relatively quick update, right?**

**So recently I got in contact with one of my reviewers (not sure whether or not they want their name to be mentioned, so I won't. But you know who you are!), and he actually made me realize something that I can't believe I didn't. I wanted Naruto with six women… but I only had four definite choices.**

**Yeah, I can be quite stupid when it comes to things like this.**

**Now, I'm having trouble figuring out who should fill these last two slots. And whenever I have trouble deciding what I want for my story, you guys and gals know that I put up a poll. **

**That's exactly what I'm doing! By the time you read this (With the exception of this reviewer, who obviously knows ahead of time that there is a poll), there will be a new poll on my profile page that asks who should be in Naruto's harem. For my anonymous readers who can't vote, leave a review saying what two you want, and a review if you want another person to be added. DON'T SUGGEST ANKO! SHE'S TAKEN!**

**The choices are:**

**Fu**

**Konan**

**Guren**

**Koyuki**

**Karin**

**Mei Terumi**

**Tenten**

**Ino (I know, I know, but a few people like Ino and nobody's said anything against her, so I've changed her character [you'll see later in the chapter]) **

**Again, if you have an account, I would very much appreciate it if you were to vote on the poll instead of leaving a review. If you don't have an account, then leave a review. For those with accounts that want another person in the poll, PM me with your suggestion. The poll won't end for some time. When I finish the Chunin Exam Arc, the poll will end.**

**Also regarding the harem, in a complete move of stupidity, I told you to suggest people to add to the harem…without telling you who will definitely be in the harem. So, the future definite harem members are Hinata, Temari, Yugito, and Samui. Don't suggest them, either; they'll be included whether or not you want them to be. **

**Now, I've got some complaints that people can't remember what each clone commander does. That is to say, the fact that there are so many new characters with names is disorienting. So I've decided to scrap most of the clone divisions. A few will remain for things Naruto himself doesn't have time for, or would rather not get involved with. Anju and the T&I Division, Kogeri and the Assassination Division, Darrin and the Construction Crew, and the Sealing Division and its commander (who hasn't been created yet) will remain; you'll just have to get used to that much.**

**Also, I got a flame from some anonymous person named "Guest" (there were two reviews by people without accounts/too lazy to login with the name Guest, but one was good and the other a flame, so the flamer knows who they are), saying:**

_Dude the first 2 chapters are good BUT videogames? Seriously? What are you? 5? Get real men i stop reading from here good luck next time_

**My response: Cool story, bro. Tell it again to someone who gives a shit.**

**No, but seriously, I'm kind of glad I got this flame. I'm not forcing anyone to read this. So yeah, bro, get the fuck out.**

**Am I five? Yes, because surely there is a five year old that can write nearly as grammatically correct as this. And since I've mentioned that I am in high school, this must mean that I am a genius the likes of which the world has never seen (even Einstein didn't get to high school at five years of age).**

**Speaking of grammar, you meant to say: "Dude, the first two chapters are good, but video games? Seriously? How old are you? Five? Get real man. I stopped/ I'm going to stop reading here. Good luck next time!" **

**The moral of this story, boys and girls: don't flame. Constructive criticism is ok, but if you're going to flame, be prepared to be publicly embarrassed!**

**Oh, and if you don't like, don't read. That too.**

**I don't know what else to say, so let's get on with the story, shall we?**

**Disclaimer that I forget to do every time: I do not and will never own anything that exists within the Narutoverse, unless it is created by myself and inserted into the Narutoverse. This goes for every single chapter posted.**

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><p>Two weeks after the incident with the trio from Sand, Naruto was left standing in front of the Academy. Kakashi had informed them a week and half ago that the Chunin Exams were coming up, and that he had signed them up to compete. The first part of the Exams, the written test, would be taken at the Academy. Naruto stood in front of the Academy because his team had agreed to meet there before they went in.<p>

While Naruto waited, he observed some of the other teams that went in, sizing them up. There were a few teams that caught his eye.

First off was the Sand team. Naruto could clearly see that they were each amazing individual fighters. However, he had his doubts about whether they could actually battle as a team without interfering with each other. From what he could tell, the redhead- Gaara- used sand to fight- a trait he picked up as Jinchuriki of the Ichibi. Due to that, Naruto would think that he would use more wide and devastating attacks than small and subtle ones. The kunoichi of the team, Temari, was either a wind user carrying a collapsible fan around or somebody that fought with an iron beam. In either case, both of her attacks would interfere with Gaara's. Her wind would blow his sand off course, or she would get in the way of his sand (though with the way Gaara acted, Naruto wouldn't have been surprised if he killed her without second thought). The other shinobi, named Kankuro, carried around a mummy on his back. This suggested he was a puppet user- Suna was renowned for their puppet techniques. Again, this did not work well for the team dynamics. Kankuro's puppet would get in the way of Gaara's sand or Temari's wind. All three of them were mid- to long-range fighters.

Naruto had quickly surmised a way to take down the team if necessary. Hinata, as a close range fighter with a few long-range attacks, would handle Temari by getting in close. Shino could easily take Kankuro; with bugs that drained blood and chakra, as well as invisible bugs and flying spiders, there were a number of ways the Aburame could incapacitate the puppeteer. Naruto would handle Gaara with his vast amount of techniques and his Rinnegan. If needed, he would also be able to power-up to his two-tailed state, which was more than enough for the Ichibi (though he couldn't control it effectively, so it was a double-edged sword).

The second team was a Kumo squad with two kunoichi and one shinobi, which, Naruto mused, was a rare combination. He knew next to nothing about them besides what he could assume. All three of them had either a tanto or a katana; this made Naruto believe that they preferred to stay in close-quarters combat. Since they were from Kumo, he could assume they knew Lightning techniques, though he would have to prepare for anything. And, from their relaxed posture, it seemed that they were not concerned with the Exams. This led Naruto to believe two things: either they were supremely arrogant and thought all of the teams under them, or they knew they were strong and believed that most of the Exams would be easy. Either way, Naruto was wary of them, and he would inform his team to fight with caution around them.

Naruto really did not have any format on how to combat this particular squad. He and Hinata were more then ready for a ken- or taijutsu engagement, but Shino, though better than most of his clan, was still a long-range fighter. On top of that, he used insects, which could easily be fried with a Lightning technique or two. As for Hinata, she had a water affinity, which was weak against lightning; that meant it was more than likely that she would have to rely solely on the Gentle Fist. And once the enemy figured that out, they would probably use jutsu to keep her away from them. Also, with Hinata's poor history concerning Kumo, Naruto wasn't sure whether she would be able to fight them efficiently. She could collapse in terror of the Kumo nin, or she might allow anger to blind her. Naruto, however, knew that he could take all three if he had to, though he would rather not test it out. A few blasts of the Shinra Tensei should keep them separated should they all try to attack him with Kenjutsu. He was sure that his Ninjutsu repertoire and chakra reserves was good enough to handle all three of them at once should they go that route as well.

There was another Kumo team that caught his eye, though in reality it was just the kunoichi. The other two genin were non-descript and probably average at best, but the kunoichi was special. Kurama instantly recognized a chakra emitting from her belonging to Matatabi the Two-Tailed Cat, which told Naruto that she was a Jinchuriki as well. As such, she would have large chakra reserves, though nowhere near as large as Naruto's, lots of stamina, and quick regeneration powers, though not at the same speed as Naruto's. Though the Kyuubi only had two tails of its own power left, its own traits (such as extremely fast regeneration) would not diminish with the disappearance of tails.

At any rate, this put Naruto on edge. There was a chance that she had been trained to be able to use Matatabi's youkai effectively. He really didn't want to end up battling a two-tailed demonic cat at any point, so he would take caution around her. And he wouldn't even risk having Hinata battle her. Shino's youkai-eating kikachu bugs would be welcome, though. Hinata could easily handle the other genin.

The fourth team that bothered Naruto was from Grass. Two of them seemed exceptionally weak, which was strange, as a small village like Kusa couldn't afford to waste away their developing ninja in deadly tournaments. What really bothered Naruto was that the third person, the kunoichi, was extremely skilled. She had large chakra coils and Naruto assumed that she had great chakra control, because he could see that in her chakra pathways the chakra flowed smoothly rather than clumsily, like that of ninja with poor control. He could also tell that her chakra was "dark;" one of the Rinnegan's unknown abilities was that to tell "light" chakra from "dark" chakra and, in essence, those who fought for good reasons and those who were downright evil. This, combined with the fact that he could smell snakes on her due to his heightened senses because of Kurama's presence within him, made him come to two conclusions. This person was either Orochimaru the Snake Sannin, infamous traitor to Konoha, or somebody very high up in his organization. And while Naruto had a bone to pick with Orochimaru for what he did to Anko, he knew that he wasn't nearly strong enough to handle one of the strongest ninjas to ever have come out of the village. The kunoichi had also thrown him a surprised expression that quickly turned into a hungry stare as she saw his eyes, which made Naruto wonder what this person had planned.

The final team that bothered Naruto was from the Sound Village. They were all average in skills, if their chakra control and reserves stood for anything, but the fact that they were from Oto put Naruto on instant guard. If you were a ninja affiliated with Otogakure, you were automatically affiliated with Orochimaru, whether you knew it or not. The only other thing that bothered Naruto was the dark glares they gave Sasuke as both teams arrived at the same time. While Naruto personally hated the stuck-up, pampered "Prince of Konoha," he didn't necessarily want him dead, because he hadn't done anything that had signed a death warrant…yet. Besides, beating the crap out of him when he came up for a challenge was always fun.

"Naruto?" A voice said. Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and saw that Shino had arrived sometime during his contemplation period.

"Hello, Shino."

"I suppose that Hinata has not yet arrived?"

"Unless she arrived here earlier than I did and went in before I got here, then she hasn't."

"I see."

"Listen, Shino…"

By the time Naruto was done explaining everything he had noticed, the two of them could see Hinata arriving in the distance. They both nodded at her once she reached them.

"Hey Hinata." Naruto said. She blushed and nodded in return, which made him sigh internally. She had started doing this ever since their date last week.

Naruto's promise of a date if Hinata managed to master the Azure Dragon Palm within the week spurned the girl to train nonstop, and within three days she had nailed it. Since he lost, he had to hold up his promise, and at the end of the week, he and Hinata went on a date to an upscale restaurant in central Konoha. Normally the owner and managers would never have allowed Naruto in, but a combination of killing intent radiating from him, along with the fact that Hinata, the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, was demanding entrance to the restaurant, made the owner give in and get them a premier table. The date had gone very well, and at the end, when Naruto was walking Hinata home, he surprised both her and himself when he gave her a chaste kiss before disappearing. Ever since that in-the-moment kiss, whenever Hinata saw Naruto, she became as red as a tomato and as mute as the dead.

"Shall we head in, then?" Naruto asked after a moment of silence. Shino nodded while Hinata's blush turned into a full-blown flush. Taking that as a symbol that she was ready to go, he turned and pushed the Academy doors open, leaving Shino to explain who to avoid to the Hyuuga heiress.

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><p>They weren't even at the destination of the first exam- Room 301- when problems arose for Team Seven. They went up a flight of stairs to find a large crowd in front of "Room 301." Curious, Naruto, Hinata, and Shino moved to the back of the crowd to listen in and get away without being seen if need be.<p>

"Why can't you just let us in?"

"Sorry kid, but you clearly aren't strong enough to take these exams. I'm doing you a favor… saving your life. Go home and train some more. Maybe next year you'll be strong enough to compete."

There was a shift in the crowd, and that gave Naruto a window to see what had happened. Two people were standing in front of "Room 301," effectively locking the other Chunin hopefuls out. One of them had pushed a guy in a green spandex outfit to the ground. Naruto shook his head.

'_Really? Any fool could detect that genjutsu…we've only walked up one flight of stairs, after all. And he's from Konoha, too…he should know that he's only gone to the second floor!' _

Then Naruto got a good look at his chakra system.

'…_On second thought, I'm no longer surprised as to why he's been trapped under the genjutsu. His chakra coils did not develop properly, and the chakra pathways are bundled together at strange locations... the only logical conclusion is that he is unable to mold chakra. Whether he can use chakra to help in his taijutsu, however, is something I don't know.'_

Two people, a female wearing a pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants, and a male wearing a khaki shirt and dark brown shorts, surged forward. The female, who had dark brown hair tied into two traditional Chinese buns, and warm, chocolate brown eyes, moved towards the downed genin- presumably her teammate- and helped him up. The male, who had black hair that reached his waist and white, pupil-less eyes, moved past them and stared arrogantly at the two guards that had knocked the green spandex guy over.

"It would bode well for you to move out of my team's way; I am a Hyuuga, after all." He declared arrogantly. Naruto's Rinnegan focused on him.

'_And of course, we have the typical asshole Hyuuga. They are quite common in the clan, with the exception of Hinata-chan and perhaps a few others. He seems to regard himself rather highly... and yet, he hasn't seen through this genjutsu yet, even with his prized Doujutsu. This guy is all bark and no bite. If he does have a bite, I'm sure that my bite is much, much nastier.'_

Almost subconsciously, Naruto looked over at Hinata, who was staring at the other Hyuuga with something that looked like a cross between fear and pity. He sighed internally again. Hinata was one of the strongest genin in the village, but due to her lack of self-confidence, she crippled herself. That issue was one of the things that Naruto and the rest of his friends were working on- breaking Hinata out of her shell that was undoubtedly created by the jackass she called a father, Hiashi Hyuuga.

Naruto turned and walked away, with Shino and Hinata following. However, before they could get off the floor, they heard an even more arrogant voice speak up.

"Hey losers! Drop the genjutsu so we can go to the real Room 301!" Sasuke Uchiha exclaimed with a smirk on his face, walking forwards with his hands in his pockets, thinking he looked like a badass. Sakura stood very close to him, her eyes turned into hearts full of adoration for the Last Loyal Uchiha. Ino stood on the other side of Sasuke, but not nearly as close, and- to Team Seven's surprise- she had her head in her hands, as if she couldn't bear being seen with them.

'_I was under the impression that while Ino was infatuated with me, she liked the Uchiha to a certain extent as well. And yet, it seems that it is not the case. If anything, she looks like she wants to get out of here, or- at the very least- away from her teammates…' _Naruto pondered. He wondered if that dislike was exploitable…after all, in the Chunin Exams, even teams from the same village became enemies. If he could spread some discord between Ino and Sasuke (and his pink-haired bitch fan-girl), that would make this team a whole lot easier to take care of…not that they weren't already. Shino could decimate the entire team by himself, provided that the Uchiha could not see the Aburame's invisible mosquitoes with his Sharingan…if he had unlocked it yet.

"So you saw through our Genjutsu, huh?" One of the guards said with a smirk while the other made a hand symbol. The first number over the door shifted from a three to a two.

"How could I not? I am an Uchiha; nothing gets past me!" Sasuke declared proudly. Sakura nodded rather dumbly in the background, still staring at her idol, little rivulets of drool forming at the corners of her mouth.

"If nothing gets past you," Naruto said, as the crowd of genin that had gathered at the door started racing up the stairs, "then why would you tell all of them that this was the wrong room? It would have eliminated some of the competition, and made both your and mine that much easier…dumbass."

Sasuke's face turned red, though whether it was due to rage or embarrassment was hard to tell. "Shut up, idiot! I did it so everyone can witness my greatness!"

Naruto just stared at him before turning around and walking towards the staircase. Before he could get there, however, the arrogant Hyuuga from earlier- who was still lounging about, despite the fact everyone else had left- called out to him.

"You, the one with the funny eyes and blonde hair! What is your name?"

Naruto stopped at the doorway leading to the stairs, but he did not answer the Hyuuga. This act of ignoring him made the Hyuuga angry.

"Hey, peasant! You should respect your betters and learn to answer them when they address you! Now, I will ask you again! Who are you?"

Naruto turned very slowly and deliberately. "My betters? To whom do you refer?"

The elder genin snarled at the implication that there was nobody in the hallway that was better then him and stepped forward, but the kunoichi in Chinese clothes grabbed his arm before he could go any further. "Neji, we can't get into a fight now! We'll get disqualified and eliminated before the tournament even officially begins!"

"Tenten is right, Neji." The green spandex wearing ninja bounced back to his feet easily. "We must wait until the second exam or further to deal with any personal problems."

From the surprised look on Tenten's and Neji's face, Naruto quickly deduced that this genin very rarely spoke words that wise, and that he was probably just as energetic as the old Naruto was. Of course, by the old Naruto, he meant the four- year- old version of him, the one that still believed that he would become Hokage and make the people respect him. The new Naruto had no such ambition. What the new Naruto wanted was to revive the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans and become the strongest shinobi he could be so that he could protect his future wives and children, alongside his never-ending want to be Hokage, so he could change the village that Hashirama Senju created for the better. He didn't give a rat's ass about what the civilians thought anymore; they were too ignorant to understand the complexity behind his father's seal. And if they tried to fuck with him anymore, he would kill them without remorse. After all, there was a law that said ninja are allowed to kill civilians should they attack them without a good reason. Believing him to be the Kyuubi without understanding the Fourth's seal and not even getting to know him was NOT a good reason.

Neji huffed, glared harshly at his teammates, and then sneered at the trio of younger genin, giving particular attention to Naruto and Hinata, who shied away from him and behind Naruto. "You three are lucky my teammates and I actually want to gain rank, otherwise I would have destroyed the three of you easily. After all, Fate has decreed-"

Finally, it seemed that Naruto's temper snapped, and with a raised palm and a muttering of "Shinra Tensei," the foolish Hyuuga was blown backwards and down the stairs from which he ascended. Tenten and the green spandex genin looked at him in awe, shock, and some fear.

"Let's go get Neji, Lee." Tenten suggested, scrambling down the stairs to get away from the blonde and the strange move. Lee nodded and reluctantly began to follow.

Naruto turned to his two teammates. "Shall we continue forward?"

They nodded, and made for the stairs, but again an arrogant prick stopped them.

"Hey, idiot!" Sasuke said. Naruto turned to him, partly due to knowing that he could only be referring to him and partly due to the fact that he would make the Uchiha look like an idiot if he kept testing him like this.

"I demand you give me that power!" He said angrily, stomping up to him. His response…

"Shinra Tensei."

Team Seven went up the stairs, leaving a disheveled Sasuke laying on the ground and covered in concrete after having been sent through the wall, a panicking Sakura hovering over him, and a strangely quiet Ino that was staring at where Naruto had just stood.

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><p>Team Seven continued on their adventurous trek to the third floor unopposed and was preparing to enter the room when a puff of smoke appeared between the door and the genin. The three friends hopped into their taijutsu positions immediately, but relaxed as the smoke cleared to reveal their sweat-dropping sensei.<p>

"Um… hey?" Kakashi tried lamely.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, seeing as how Hinata was blushing red from embarrassment and Shino was remaining as stoic as ever. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, not much. I just wanted to make sure that all three of you showed up."

"I see. What would have happened had one of us decided that they would not take the exams?" Shino asked. He knew that the exams were heavily reliant on teams and their cooperation, but he had never heard of an incident where a member of the team had not shown up to the exams.

"Then the teammates would be automatically disqualified from the Chunin Exams. You need a three-man team in order to compete." Kakashi replied.

"And you didn't tell us this, because…"

"I didn't want to pressure you into competing. I wanted to make sure that all of you three were sure that you could compete in the exams and have a chance of doing well. And I must admit, I am proud to see that you all are confident in your ability. I am even more proud to call you three my students."

The three genin smiled at him, and he eye-smiled back. "Now, get in there and kick some ass!"

The three nodded and walked forward, but Kakashi grabbed Naruto's shoulder, leaned in, and whispered him something in his ear. Naruto nodded, and together, the three genin entered the room, their sensei staring after them proudly.

"Well," Kakashi mused to himself. "I guess I should get to the Jonin Lounge and watch the squirts compete. It'll be nice to hang out with Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai as well…" He vanished in a plume of smoke.

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><p>As soon as the three genin opened the door, they were slammed with killing intent the likes of which only seasoned veterans had ever felt. Obviously, tensions were running high, and the killing intent was a way of seeing whether or not this team was strong or weak.<p>

Unfortunately for everyone in the room, the trio had felt stronger killing intent in Wave during the final battle that included Zabuza and Kisame, known masters of the killing intent technique, so even this amount of killing intent that was being radiated was not effective to Shino, Hinata, and Naruto. In fact, Shino yawned and stretched, Hinata rolled her eyes, and Naruto merely smirked before doing as Kakashi-sensei had told him and releasing his own killer intent.

Naruto's killing intent would have been great enough, but with the Kyuubi residing within him, it was multiplied several times. As such, all of the weaker teams fainted, while the stronger teams felt trembles wrack their bodies. Gaara appeared frozen in place, but you could see the bloodthirsty grin start to form on the redhead's face. The white-haired male from Kumo let the lollipop drop from his mouth and hit the floor. The redheaded kunoichi's knees buckled, and she leaned against the male for support. The blonde and blue-eyed kunoichi from Kumo maintained the emotionless face that Naruto had seen when they had entered, but in her eyes you could see the curiousness of how he was able to produce that intent, as well as some small bits of astonishment and fear that he was able too. The final kunoichi of Kumo actually blushed hard at his intent, but he brushed it off because he knew that the killing intent that was being amplified by the Kyuubi was making the Nibi horny… she had always had a thing for the Kyuubi and his power. Meanwhile, Temari and Kankuro looked gob-smacked, probably because their brother could not even produce this much of it.

Finally, Naruto pulled in his killer intent, and everyone let loose a breath they had not known they were holding. The stronger teams looked around and widened their eyes as they saw many of the genin laid out on the floor. Some of the teams still awake shot him and his teammates fearful glances. Finally, after a few minutes, some of the teams started to stir.

"Impressive." Team Seven heard. They turned to see their friends from Team Ten walking over with smirks (or, in Shikamaru's case, a lazy grin) on their faces.

"Why, thank you." Naruto replied, also smirking. He performed a mock bow, to which he received mock applause. "But I must ask how you guys were unaffected."

"We were at Wave too, you know." Kiba said.

"And we already knew that it was your killing intent, so we knew that it wasn't directed at us; thus, we didn't feel anything at all, other than the total annihilation of the rest of the killing intent surrounding us." Shikamaru added.

Choji nodded and continued to eat chips.

"That does make sense. Allies who know you would never attack them would remain unaffected from your killing intent." Shino said. They nodded, but Choji's eyes wandered over Shino's shoulder and towards the door before they widened.

"Hey, what happened to Sasuke?"

The other five looked towards the direction he was facing and saw that the last Uchiha had entered the room leaning heavily on Sakura. There was a fresh bruise on his face as well. Ino walked behind the duo, not bothering to help, and actually bounded over towards them when she saw them.

"Hey guys!" She said cheerfully. None of the six genin responded, though it wasn't because they didn't like her. Ino had generally left them alone during the Academy, unless she was bothering Naruto or asking the others how they became so close to him. They didn't respond because they were shocked that she had willingly left the Uchiha's side and joined them without making a move on Naruto.

"…Hello?" She tried again, this time a little less sure.

"Who are you and what have you done to Ino?" Shikamaru asked seriously, reaching for a kunai.

"I am Ino! H-Hey, no need to reach for the knife, Shikamaru!" She responded, gulping.

"It's definitely her; the scent is the same." Kiba said.

"Her chakra structure is the same, too. That's Ino, alright." Naruto confirmed.

"Is it really so hard to believe?" She asked, pouting.

"Well," Choji said, pausing to swallow his chips. "You never really talked to us except for when you were trying to get Naruto to go out with you or when you were asking us how we became such good friends with him, so excuse us if we're shocked that you came over here."

"So, what do you want?" Hinata asked coldly. Ino flinched at the tone of voice, knowing that if she wanted a shot at or with Naruto, she'd have to get past this meek but vicious kunoichi first.

"Firstly, I'm not a fan-girl anymore. Kurenai-sensei told me what happens to kunoichi that don't take their careers seriously, and I don't plan on ending up like them." Here she flinched again, remembering the talk. "Unfortunately, her speech didn't seem to get through to Sakura, so she's still hanging onto Sasuke like her life depends on it…which it probably does, considering she'd die if he wasn't there to fight. That leads to my second point- with a fan-girl and a brooding, revenge-seeking emo on my team, there's not much conversation going on. I want somebody I can actually talk to, and I was hoping that would be you guys." She finished quietly, her cheeks tinged red and her head bowed.

After a few moments, she felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and looked into the face of a grinning Shikamaru.

"…You will have to earn the trust of everyone here in order to become one of us." Seeing her downcast face, he quickly pushed forward. "But if it helps, I respect you for your ability to break out of your old habits and move towards being a better kunoichi."

She looked up with a hopeful expression, to which Shikamaru chuckled. "You don't have my trust yet, Ino. But you have my respect. That's the first step to gaining trust."

She looked at the others and saw that they were nodding, even Hinata, though she was doing so begrudgingly. Seeing this, a fire lit behind Ino's eyes.

"If that's what it takes, then I'll do it!" She declared. Naruto smiled inwardly.

'_She's changed so much in the past few months…incredible.' _On the outside however, he remained passive.

"So, Ino, do you mind telling us what happened to Sasuke?" Naruto prompted. Ino sighed and rolled her eyes.

"We were on our way here after you blasted him through the wall-"

"Wait, what?" Choji and Kiba said. Shikamaru merely raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Long story short, the Uchiha was being an annoying and egotistical prick, so I knocked him down a few notches. Anyway, continue Ino."

"Right. As I was saying, as we were on our way here, that Rock Lee fellow came up to us and challenged him to a fight, saying that he wanted to prove that a genius of hard work could defeat a genius with inherent talent. Sasuke and Lee then got into a fight, and…well, you can see the results." She explained. Midway through the explanation, the genin who had beaten the Uchiha so badly entered the room with his team, though he had a fresh bruise on his face.

"Did Sasuke manage to hit Lee at all?" Shino asked. Ino looked at him in surprise, only having heard him talk a few times, before answering.

"No. That bruise came from Lee's own instructor- Maito Gai, I think- when he appeared and hit him. Apparently, Lee was going to use some dangerous technique he wasn't allowed to use."

"If it was being used on the Uchiha," Kiba grumbled, "I would have let it go that one time."

While his friends chuckled, Naruto stared at the genin who had managed to destroy the Uchiha.

'_His chakra coils are terrible, and yet he was able to do what he did to Sasuke…either Sasuke sucks a lot more than I thought, or he is a master at taijutsu…at which case, I would definitely go for a long-ranged battle.'_

"Hey, you guys!" An unfamiliar voice called. The seven genin turned towards the person who had spoken and looked him over.

The genin was about five or six years older then them, making him either somewhere from eighteen to twenty. He had ash gray hair tied into a ponytail and black eyes that glinted behind his round glasses. He wore a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white undershirt, fingerless gloves with an armored plate on the back of each glove, a white cloth waistband worn at an angle, dark purple pants, and the standard blue shinobi sandals. His forehead protector was worn on his forehead, and the metal piece showed that he was from their village.

"I suggest you stop making so much noise. You don't want to draw attention to yourselves, after all."

Naruto, Shino, and Kiba were already on guard against this stranger. While his aura seemed friendly enough, his scent smelled of snakes and his chakra was dark. Shikamaru, Hinata, and Choji, seeing their friends tensing, also put up their guards. Ino noticed the others putting up their guards, but did not put up hers in order to make this person feel more relaxed.

"Who are you?" She asked, genuinely curious. She knew most of the ninja in the village due to her dad's job, but this genin was one she had never heard of nor seen before.

"My name is Kabuto Yakushi." He replied politely, bowing slightly to them. They nodded their heads, not taking their eyes off of him.

"So, Kabuto…aren't you a little old to be taking these exams?" Kiba asked seriously, causing Ino to look at him in shock. She had never known that KIBA of all people could be serious.

He laughed at his question. "Yes, I get that a lot. These exams are tougher than most people realize, however. That, and I've had plenty of bad luck. For instance, one time in Kumo, I ate some poisonous berries. That was not fun."

"How many times have you taken these exams?" Shikamaru asked warily.

"Well, this will be my seventh attempt." He replied sheepishly. "You know what they say…seventh time is the charm!"

The seven rookies merely stared at him, to which he sweat-dropped. "Wow. Tough crowd, I see. Well, I can always tell who are the first-timers here, since they're always so loud. I know for a fact that this will be the first Chunin Exams for all of you."

"So what of it?" Naruto asked.

"Well, over the three years that I've taken part in these exams, I have learned to gleam information from the participants and turn them into these." He pulled a deck of cards from…somewhere on his person.

"They are…?" Choji trailed off.

"These are my prized Ninja Info Cards. Ask me about anyone you want, and I can push some chakra into a card to reveal statistics on them." Kabuto explained. Naruto's eyebrows rose, but internally he was nodding to himself.

'_If he has information on the Sand Trio, then I know he's definitely been up to some illegal activities. He is, after all, nothing but a Konoha genin, so he shouldn't have information on foreign ninja who are the same age as us and probably haven't taken any Chunin Exams before as well.' _Naruto thought. He was about to humor the gray-haired "genin," when somebody else beat him to it.

"You there!" Sasuke snapped at Kabuto, stalking towards the large group. "I demand that you give me information on Gaara of the Desert, Rock Lee of Konoha, Neji of Konoha…and Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha."

Kabuto appeared bemused, especially when Sakura demanded to see it as well, but he complied with the order and pulled four cards.

"First we have Gaara of the Sand. I don't have that much information on him, considering he's taking the Chunin Exams for the first time as well and he is a foreign ninja, but I have some intelligence based on what I've heard about him. He is a genin from Suna; his teammates are Temari and Kankuro of the Sand, and his teacher is someone named Baki; he has completed 8 D-rank, 20 C-rank, and 5 B-rank missions; and get this! He's returned from every mission completely unharmed!" Kabuto said in awe.

"That's not all; apparently, he's got an Ultimate Defense. He can consciously and sub-consciously manipulate sand, so it's said that nothing can touch him. His skills are all non-existent, but I suspect that he fights using his sand and nothing more." Kabuto concluded.

'_This guy is definitely a spy for Orochimaru.' _Naruto thought. Glancing at Shino to see if he thought so too, he saw that Shino gave a curt nod, confirming Naruto's thoughts.

"Second on the list is Rock Lee of the Leaf Village. Lee is a genin a year older than you all, but he's taking the Exams for the first time, too. His teammates are Neji Hyuuga and Tenten, and his sensei is Maito Gai. Lee has taken part in 79 D-rank missions and 15 C-rank missions. His nin- and genjutsu skills are nonexistent, but his taijutsu skills are at low-jonin level." Kabuto reported.

"Third is Neji Hyuuga of the Leaf Village. Neji is also a year older than all of you, and he, too, is partaking in the Exams for the first time. Apparently, he is hailed as the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan. His teammates are Rock Lee and Tenten, and his sensei is Maito Gai. Neji, like Lee, has partaken in 79 D-rank and 15 C-rank missions. His ninjutsu skills are way below average, and his genjutsu skills leave a lot to be desired, but his taijutsu skills are at low-jonin as well. Of note, he possesses the Byakugan, which means he can have three hundred and sixty degrees of vision that allows him to see chakra pathways and through genjutsu; therefore, he is immune to all but the most powerful of genjutsu."

"Finally, we have Naruto Uzumaki of the Leaf Village. Naruto-" Kabuto started. Before he could say anything else, however, the card, along with the rest of the deck, flew out of his grasp. Everyone watched as they were pulled towards Naruto by an invisible force.

"Now, now," he said with a forced smile. "The others may not have known about their secrets being revealed, but I am a ninja, and I will not allow others to know my strengths and weaknesses."

"I apologize, Naruto-san. If you please…" Kabuto trailed off, watching as the cards burned in Naruto's hands.

"What was that?" Naruto asked pleasantly. Kabuto shook his head.

"Nothing of value anymore. At any rate, even without the cards I can still give you all some good advice."

"Such as?" Ino pressed.

"Well, I'd be wary of the teams from Kumo. That village never sends any of their genin unless they're positive that they will pass, so I wouldn't underestimate them. Gaara himself is very deadly, so I imagine that you will want to stay out of his and his teammates' paths. The teams from smaller villages, though- Kusa, Ame, etc.- will probably be weaker than you guys. And Oto was formed not too long ago, so I suspect that those Sound genin are weak. Very, very weak."

Naruto eyed the Sound genin Kabuto spoke of, who were not standing too far off. They looked at Kabuto incensed, then nodded to each other, and attacked all together.

Fortunately for Kabuto, the Leaf genin were more than prepared to handle the situation. Naruto leapt forward and performed a spinning kick to the mummy looking one's head, knocking him back. Kiba caught the other male's hands and delivered a head-butt to the person's chest, bringing him to his knees. Shino's bugs caught the kunoichi's legs while she was in midair, causing her to fall forward on her face.

The two male genin from Oto tried to stand, but they found themselves with swords at their throats. They looked up into Naruto's face, and looked down to see him holding two tanto blades at their necks.

"You better have a good reason for attacking Kabuto-san, ninja-sans." Naruto said, digging his tanto blades further into their necks and spilling a little blood.

"He said we were weak! We'll show him!" The one held down by his left tanto said. This one had spiky dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a beige shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death running down the front of it. His forehead protector was connected to a faceguard, and he wore a snake-patterned scarf around his neck.

"Quiet, Zaku." The other snarled. This guy had bandages covering most of his face but his left eye. He wore a large poncho with long sleeves, the same snake-patterned scarf around his neck, a straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf, and a metal device on his right arm. "Please, forgive our irrationality. We merely wanted to prove that we are not weak, and that we are in this tournament to win it."

"Yes, what Dosu said is true. Now please get these bugs off of me!" The kunoichi said a few feet off to Naruto's right. Her black hair was so long, it reached all the way down to her knees, where a violet ribbon finally tied it. Her black eyes shone with disgust and arrogance. She wore a pale green vest to go along with her snake-patterned pants and scarf.

Slowly, Naruto lifted the tanto blades from his captives' necks. Seeing this, Shino recalled his kikachu from the kunoichi. The three Sound ninja leapt back and into each other.

"Are you ok, Kin?" Dosu asked, not taking his eye off of Naruto.

"I'm fine." She replied curtly, her eyes locked on Shino, who gazed impassively back.

"Now, if you just waltz over towards where you came from, we can forget this ever happened." Naruto warned. Unfortunately, Zaku did not heed the warning.

"Shut up! He disrespected our village, and now he'll pay!" Quickly raising his arm, Zaku called out a technique. Just as quick, the blonde genin raised his own limb, whispering one of his own.

"Decapitating Airwaves!"

"Shinra Tensei!"

The supersonic burst of air shot at the group menacingly, but Naruto's gravitational blast disrupted Zaku's attack in midair and sent the arrogant Oto genin sailing through the doors of the room, blasting said doors off of the hinges. Everyone stared at Naruto with either fear, amazement (Temari, Kankuro, and the Kumo ninja), jealously (Sasuke), or bloodthirstiness (Gaara).

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><p>'<em>That's the second time he's done that…but what in Kami-sama is it?' <em>The resident Yamanaka wondered, staring at Naruto's cold face.

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><p>'<em>Holy…that's one powerful move.' <em>Temari thought, feeling a little moisture in between her legs. Kiba shot her a weird look, to which she blushed and looked away. She could tell he was an Inuzuka from his facial markings, so she knew that he smelt her hormones acting up.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Was that…how did…unless…" <strong>Matatabi stammered in Yugito's head.

'_What's wrong?' _The Nibi Jinchuriki mentally asked.

"**Kitten, the only way he could have done that is if he has the Rinnegan… how did I not notice earlier! For all things holy, kitten, you need to drag that man off and make him yours before somebody else does! When the survival test comes around, I want you to grab him, find a secluded area, and-"**

Needless to say, Kiba was left staring at the blushing Yugito for a good minute or so.

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><p>'<em>Such power…and he's only my age, perhaps even younger!' <em>Samui thought, shock evident on her face for a few seconds before her impassive look returned. _'We're going to have to make peace with him…I won't even consider fighting against him.'_

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><p>While the others had their thoughts, Naruto, who was oblivious to it all, watched in slight annoyance as Zaku picked himself up with a pained expression.<p>

"Why you…" he growled, raising his arms for another attack. Before he could, however, several loud sounds reminiscent to that of guns being fired echoed throughout the room. Everyone's attention snapped to the front of the room, where several people materialized in clouds of smoke.

"Stand down, maggots!" A gruff voice shouted. The center puff cleared to reveal a tall man who was built in such a way that you could compare him to a bear. He had two long scars on his face. His forehead protector covered the entire top of his head, acting as a bandana. He wore a black cloak over the standard Konoha jonin attire, except that all his clothes were colored either black or grey.

The man looked over towards where Naruto and Zaku had had their little skirmish and scowled. "The Exams haven't even started yet and there's already been fighting? I could disqualify you this instant!"

Despite the man's rough tone of voice and scary appearance, Naruto did not appear the least bit phased or scared of this man. "They assaulted a fellow genin who appeared to be unable to defend himself in time. I and my friends merely defended him."

Seeing that Naruto wasn't going to back down from him and even went so far as to have a staring contest with him, the scarred man then turned to the three Sound genin.

"Forgive us, ninja-san. It is our first exam, and we are a bit…jumpy, if you will." Dosu commented smoothly. The man grunted and faced the collective group.

"My name is Ibiki Morino, and I am the proctor of the First Exam. So get your asses up here, grab a damn number, find your fucking seat, and let's start this thing up!"

**I think I'll stop the chapter here, seeing that it's over eight thousand words at this point.**

**So, what do you think of Ino's new character? Love her? Hate her? Don't care?**

**You guys probably noticed that there was a lot more introspective point of views in this chapter (getting into a character's thought process). I wanted to make the point clear that Naruto is VERY different from canon. You can see his tactical and analytical side showing.**

**Also, you guys might have come to the conclusion that this chapter was a whole lot of nothing. I can assure you that while it IS mainly a filler chapter (they are necessary evils, sadly), there are important pieces of information sprinkled here and there. You just have to know where to look...**

**I've issued a challenge on my profile page at the very bottom. It's for a reader who wanted me to write a story for them, but since I have my hands full with this and my Percy Jackson story, I decided to create a challenge. Go check it out, if you're interested. It's a Percy Jackson/Naruto crossover.**

**One last thing: I've got a Physics class at my summer scholarship course, so that takes away time for me to write chapters. D:**

**ILoveThisStory2 signing out!**

**WHO WOULD WIN?**

**The Shodaime Hokage versus The Yondaime Hokage**


	13. Chapter 12: The First Exam

**Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome…to the twelfth chapter of The Demon's Blessing! Tis' be the author speaking! **

**Yes, my peeps, this is the twelfth chapter in the saga (not including the prologue chapter) and I must say it feels good to get this out. **

**I'm going to reiterate my words from last chapter:**

**DO NOT PLACE VOTES FOR THE POLL IN A REVIEW IF YOU HAVE A FANFICTION ACCOUNT DAMNIT**

**IF YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT GO TO THE POLL AND CHOOSE TWO GIRLS**

**IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE THEN LEAVE A REVIEW WITH YOUR CHOICES**

**Do I need to make myself anymore clear?**

**Pertaining to the poll, as I write this, Fu and Mei are winning (1st and 2nd place respectively). I won't say how many votes they have (it's a blind poll for a reason), but if you don't want those two in the harem, you better vote!**

**I am flattered that you guys didn't mind the last chapter. I had one reviewer tell me that they hadn't even realized it was a filler chapter until they read my A/N that it was, and another supported me for writing it and made me realize a very good point.**

**Not all chapters can be filled with action. If you ever write a story, there will be fillers in it, because fillers help explain the background some. That last chapter showed that there is extreme tension between Naruto and Sasuke, the Sound team, and Orochimaru. It also helped show that Naruto actually has a brain that he puts to use outside of battles (because Kishimoto doesn't seem to believe that).**

**Speaking of Orochimaru, I'm surprised somebody didn't get it. That Grass genin that is extremely powerful is Orochimaru in disguise, just like in canon. He DOES see that Naruto has the Rinnegan-that's why his eyes widened and then gained a hungry gleam. He hadn't known, but he saw it for himself…and now Roachy wants.**

**Later in the chapter, I'm going to mentioning things like "emotional training." Before anyone comes to me wondering why something of that nature is part of the "curriculum," let me just say that this type of training is not the same type of training Danzo and the ROOT undergo. Whereas ROOT agents have their emotions locked away and suppressed at all times and, thus, are little more than robots, the regular ninjas retain their emotions but have to undergo training so they can reel it in when needed. After all, if hostile ninja can read your emotions, they can tell what you're thinking. You wouldn't want surprise, fear, or pain showing.**

**With that explained, I think we'll go onto the chapter, shall we?**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>There was a great rush filling the exam room as genin from several different villages scrambled to get in line for their number. Naruto and his friends, however, took their time getting in line, not particularly worried about the First Exam. After all, it was only a written test, and with their combined intellect and empathy link ability, they would be able to pass with no problem.<p>

As he came closer and closer to the front of the line, Naruto couldn't help but replay a single moment in his head several times. The point in time where the Kusa kunoichi had stared at him so hungrily unsettled him.

Naruto Uzumaki could not recall the last time he had been unsettled.

Naturally, this feeling of unease around this Kusa ninja only increased his suspicions that she was actually Orochimaru in disguise. Of course, that did not help his unease either.

He contemplated on what Orochimaru could possibly be doing within the village. Nothing good for Konoha's sake was going to come out of it, obviously, so that left a few choices. He was either scouting out Konoha (the most unlikely choice, as he could have spies like Kabuto to do it), he was looking for something (or someone), or he was going to lead an enemy force in an attempt to destroy Konoha. Those were the three greatest possibilities, though Naruto almost wanted to narrow it down to the final two. If Orochimaru was SCOUTING the village, that meant he was working for somebody else. If Orochimaru was working for somebody else, that meant that his boss had to be stronger than Orochimaru. Naruto shuddered to think of people stronger the snake Sannin, and as such almost completely disregarded the first possibility.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when one of the Chunin handed him a random seat number. Glancing down at the ticket, he figured that his seat was seven rows from the back of the room and three seats in from the left side. Making his way towards the destination, he looked over his neighbors and noticed that the cold blonde from Kumo would be sitting on his left and a Rain ninja on his right. Directly behind him, Kabuto sat with a small smirk. Directly in the front of him, some Konoha genin who he did no recognize sat with absolutely no emotion on his face, though every few seconds or so he would glance at one of the Chunin in the room and they would exchange smirks. That action caused Naruto to raise an eyebrow.

Sitting down with a nod to both of his neighbors, Naruto looked for the rest of his group of friends. Shino was at the very front of the room, sitting next to the Oto kunoichi, much to both of the ninjas' chagrin. In stark contrast, Hinata was in the right corner seat at the very back of the room. Shikamaru was sitting directly behind Kabuto and two rows above Naruto, while Choji sat in the same row as Naruto but on the other end, directly next to Rock Lee, who gave the Akimichi both a brilliant smile and a thumb up. Kiba was in the fourth row from the front, sitting next to a Konoha genin Naruto did not know of. Ino was also in the very last row, but she held the corner left seat.

He took note of other seated competitors as well. Gaara was sitting next to Sakura in the second row, and the pink-haired waste of space looked ready to piss her panties because of the emotionless and almost psychotic look he was giving her. Sasuke sat next to the Oto kunoichi sitting next to Shino, putting the Uchiha in the middle of the row and right in front of Ibiki. The Nibi Jinchuriki whose name Naruto still had not found out was four rows above him and off to his left, while the Grass genin Naruto believed to be Orochimaru was in the second to last row. Though he couldn't get a good glimpse of the snake from his angle, Naruto could, for all intents and purposes, feel the traitor's eyes staring into the back of his head.

Sighing, Naruto turned his attention back to the front of the room. If it weren't for his ninja training that made him show almost no emotion when startled, he would've jumped ten feet in the air because at that exact moment, a voice that didn't belong to him or Kyuubi rang out within his head.

'_Man, this is such a drag.' _

'…_Shikamaru?' _Naruto asked while grabbing the part of his arm where he knew Shikamaru's name was located.

'_Who else? Don't tell me you forgot about the empathy links already.'_

'…'

'_Really, Naruto?'_

'_Look, Shika, that's not the point. With the empathy links, we can all work together and do the test!'_

'_Yes, I've already figured that out. I can connect to somebody else, and you can connect to a different person, and then the two other people we connect can connect with the two that aren't connected with anybody. Works out well, doesn't it?'_

'_It does. So, you'll grab Kiba and I'll take Shino?'_

'_Ugh, I'd rather have Shino. Explaining things to Kiba is such a drag.'_

'_Alright, then you keep this connection and open a separate one while I start the second with Kiba.'_

'_Gotcha.'_

Naruto's body and mind moved in a trancelike state. His fingers, which had been touching the place on his arm that had Shikamaru's name written into it, split so two were touching Shikamaru's name and three were resting on Kiba's. At the same time, his focus split in a 60-40 manner; he was focusing more on getting Kiba than maintaining contact with Shikamaru, though he made sure that he was focusing enough on that so that the link didn't fade.

'_Kiba!'_

Unfortunately, Kiba was not as advanced in emotional training as Naruto was. This meant that he, in fact, tried to leap out of his seat. By jumping so rapidly, he banged his knees against the desk in front of him painfully, and Akamaru went sailing through the air, yipping angrily at his partner. The dog slammed into the back of Sakura's head, slamming the girl's overly large forehead into the wood table and effectively knocking her out and slightly concussing her. **(A/N: Sakura bashing is fun to write lol)**

After apologizing to Ibiki and the administrators, glaring at everybody who stared at him when he had his episode, and watching amusedly as Akamaru used Sakura's head as a springboard to hop back to him, Kiba finally realized what Naruto had done.

'_What the fuck, Naruto! I was so unprepared for that!'_

'_We're ninja, Kiba. We're supposed to be prepared for anything and everything at all times.'_

'_And that apparently includes hearing voices in your head?'_

'_A lot of genjutsu techniques work that way. You could be under a genjutsu right now and not even know it.'_

'…_I'm not, am I?'_

'_No, Kiba, you're not. I'm using our empathy links.'_

'_Oh! This is the first time we've used them, right?'_

'_First time you've used it, I suppose. I sometimes talk to Shika and Hinata when we're on missions or training with it.' _

'_Oh.'_

'_You know, this conversation has been fun and all, but I contacted you to tell you that we're going to use the links in order to set up a ring so that all of us can get the answers. I need you to get either Hinata or Choji for me, so I can send the answers to you and then you can send them to either one of them.'_

'_No problem, I'll let Hinata know.'_

There was silence for a while before Ibiki broke it.

"Alright shitheads, listen up!"

'_This must be the person that taught Anko-sensei how to talk.' _Naruto thought dryly to himself.

"As I said earlier, my name is Ibiki Morino, and I will be the head administrator for this portion of the exams. Surrounding you are thirty chunin who will be helping me make sure that none of you greenhorns try anything funny."

At this, all of the chunin flashed menacing grins towards the contestants. Many shuddered, but a few stared back at the administrating staff with impassiveness, and even a few (Gaara, Kankuro, Kiba, and Zaku) with grins on their faces.

"The First Exam is, as you all know, a written exam to test how much knowledge of the ninja world you have and whether you can apply the knowledge you do or do not have under pressure…"

Here, Naruto frowned. _'I don't know about you two, but that last bit seems off. You can't test whether or not we can apply knowledge under pressure like this. Being under time pressure and being under battle pressure are two different scenarios; everybody acts differently under each course. Something here's amiss.'_

'_Agreed.' _Shikamaru responded. Kiba made no response of any kind, leaving Naruto to grit his teeth in annoyance. Kiba was an attentive person, and the only thing Naruto knew that could keep his full attention span was talking to Hinata. Naruto wasn't exactly sure why he was so bothered with Kiba talking to Hinata as opposed to Shikamaru, Choji, or Shino **(A/N: But you all should know…)**, but he simply shrugged it off as the Inuzuka being inattentive in one of the most important moments where he needed to be his usual self.

"The rules are simple. There are ten questions on the test. You have an hour to answer them. If you get caught cheating, you lose two points. If you get caught cheating five times, you are thrown out of the exams. And as a reminder, the Chunin Exams are a team-based competition through the first two sections, so if one of you gets thrown out, the entire team loses! The same applies for all other situations; if the three team members have been caught cheating five times altogether, they are automatically ejected. The scores are also team-based so all three teammates will have to do well in order for you all to pass. A team needs twenty points to advance."

'_What a drag…but there is something wrong in this speech. Only two points if you get caught cheating? That's extremely light, considering that these exams are for a promotion.'_ Shikamaru's voice sounded.

'_And they are trying to test us under time pressure, but we have an hour to answer ten questions? That's a lot of time for a simple test. If we combine that with the light cheating penalties…' _Naruto connected.

'_Then we can deduce that the questions are extremely hard or long, and that cheating will more than likely be necessary.' _Shikamaru finished with a sigh.

"Any questions?" Ibiki finished, looking around the room. Ino raised her hand politely, to which Ibiki nodded at her in response.

"I noticed that neither you nor your assistants are carrying papers." Ino paused, carefully choosing her next words after seeing the assisting chunin glare at her for referring to them as mere assistants. "Where are our tests?"

Her question seemed to snap many of the genin out of some reverie. All around the room, the genin looked down at the space they were sitting at or around the room, expecting something crazy to happen.

Ibiki grinned (which effectively distorted his already scarred features) and made a hand symbol. As his chakra washed over all the genin, the papers appeared in front of them face down.

"Any more questions?" He asked. When nobody moved or spoke, he continued. "Begin!"

There was a flurry of motion as everybody turned their tests over and drew their writing utensils.

Then there was an odd silence.

'_What in the hell?' _Kiba said to Naruto.

'_If you had been paying attention, Kiba, this wouldn't surprise you as much as it does. Shikamaru, you know the answers to any of these questions?' _Naruto said, scanning the test. All of the questions were easily above a special jonin's knowledge, and while Naruto knew some of the terms scattered in the questions, the applications were always used in ways Naruto had never heard of. Long story short, he couldn't answer any of the questions any better than Akamaru could.

'_Oh man, this is such a drag…I can answer one, maybe two questions, but I doubt that I'll get any of them right.'_

'_Then it's official. They want us to cheat. Soft penalties for cheating, extreme amounts of time for small amounts of questions and extremely hard questions add up to the test-takers being forced to cheat.' _Naruto thought.

'_So we have to cheat without being caught? As if that wasn't hard enough, how are we supposed to cheat? If none of us can answer the questions, then I doubt anybody else taking the tests can, and that means that we don't have anybody to cheat off of!' _Kiba rattled off, which impressed Naruto. Logic was never a strong subject of Kiba's, but he had his moments.

On the other hand, he could hear the bulbs click inside Shikamaru's head. _'Wait a minute. The test is purposely designed to be hard enough so that nobody can answer, so that makes us cheat. But we can't cheat if there's nobody to cheat off of, and the administrators know that as well. The only logical answer is that there is one or more planted chunin taking the test with us. Let's wait this out and see if anybody can start answering the questions.'_

Shikamaru was right in his predictions. After about five minutes of silence, the sound of five pencils hitting the papers rang throughout the room, startling almost everyone. Glancing about, Naruto, Kiba, and Shikamaru figured out that the ones who had started were Sakura (who had been treated for her injuries earlier), Kabuto, that Kusa genin (Orochimaru would know the answer to the questions, Naruto snorted to himself), and two non-descript genin from their own village.

'_How did they…?' _Kiba thought to Naruto. Here, Naruto remembered that Kiba wouldn't know of Shikamaru's plan, as Kiba couldn't hear Shikamaru.

'_I don't know why Sakura knows the answers to the test, but she was always a living, breathing encyclopedia, so that could be it. I have reason to think that the Kusa genin is Orochimaru-'_

'_I knew that scent was familiar! Both Mizuki and Kabuto reeked of it, but her…his…that person's smell is so much stronger!' _Kiba interrupted.

'_-So I wouldn't put it past him to know these answers. Kabuto, since he smells of snakes and had classified information on people he's never seen in the Chunin Exams before, is a spy for Orochimaru, so I also wouldn't put it past him to know the answers. That leaves those two Konoha "genin," the one next to Kiba and the one conveniently next to the Uchiha.' _Naruto thought with a sigh. He wistfully thought of taking a few days off so he could catch up on sleep.

'_Does Kiba have a way to cheat without getting caught?' _Shikamaru asked.

Three seconds later, a kunai knife landed directly in front of Kiba.

"Two points taken from Team Ten due to Kiba Inuzuka attempting to cheat." One of the chunin said with a smirk. A second chunin sitting next to Ibiki nodded and wrote something on his clipboard.

'_I'll take that as a no.' _Shikamaru answered himself, agitation leaking into his voice.

'_Kiba, you understand Akamaru, correct? Why don't you tell him to read the answers of the chunin next to you and then tell them to you?' _Naruto asked, wondering why Kiba hadn't done that first.

'_Believe me, that's what I originally intended. But Akamaru has been trained only to recognize verbal commands, not written language. He won't be able to understand the words, much less tell me what they are.' _Kiba said with a sigh.

'_And, of course, if Akamaru can't understand written language, then the same goes for Shino's insects. That leaves it all up to Hinata.' _Naruto concluded.

'_She says that she won't use her Byakugan to cheat. She doesn't believe that we have to cheat in order to pass, but won't explain why not.' _Kiba reported.

'_So, we're fucked?' _Naruto asked bluntly. Neither Kiba nor Shikamaru responded, so Naruto just groaned and held his head in his hands.

'_Oh, the irony…we, ninjas, the supposed masters of stealth, can't find a way to copy off others without being caught…' _

Glancing about, Naruto looked at how the others were getting their answers. Neji had his Byakugan activated; Tenten had some mirrors set up in the lights (how she did that, Naruto had not been sure) and was reading the answers via reflections (presumably; since their angles were different, Naruto was not seeing what she saw); and Lee had removed his headband from his waist and tied it around his forehead while looking at the mirrors, so he was more than likely manipulating the light as well. Gaara had covered an eye with one of his hands, which was strange, but Naruto assumed it was some weird jutsu, as he noted a chakra constructed eye (that coincidentally was the same color as Gaara's) floating around the room; Kankuro had left earlier in the test for a bathroom, so Naruto wasn't exactly sure what he was doing; and a wind gust had sent the papers flying earlier, so Naruto assumed Temari had been at work. He had obviously missed how the Kumo genin had gotten their answers, as they were sitting back contently. Naruto was sorely tempted to take a look at the completed paper next to him…

Then, a miracle happened, and Naruto was fortunate enough to catch it all.

It all started when Sakura triumphantly put her pencil down and leaned back into her chair. Approximately ten seconds later, a thudding sound was heard. Looking back, everyone saw that Ino had "fallen asleep" over her test. Nearly twenty seconds after that, Sakura's head also hit the table audibly. A few minutes later, Ino picked her head back up and wrote down her answers as if she had knew them all along. Sakura awoke at around the same time, though she seemed rather dazed and confused.

When Ino finished writing, she gazed around and spotted Kiba struggling over his test. With a little sigh, she made a small hand sign and promptly "fainted" again. About half a minute later, Kiba appeared to do the same. Unlike last time, however, he recovered in about five seconds, while Ino remained motionless.

Then Kiba started to write.

'…_Kiba?' _Naruto asked slowly. Kiba jumped (again), sending Akamaru flying (again) into Sakura (again), more then likely concussing her (…again :P). Akamaru gave another angry bark and walked back to his human counterpart, this time settling himself under Kiba's chair.

'_Naruto?' _Kiba responded in a feminine voice.

'_Ino? How am I talking to you?'_

'_I don't know! Do you have any sort of mental communication links with Kiba?'_

'_Maybe…'_

'…'

'…_Yes…'_

'_Well, that explains this situation. I'm using a family jutsu where I transfer my consciousness to the other person's body and hijack it. If that person has a mental link with somebody else, it won't pick up on the fact that somebody else's mind has entered the person's body, so that would allow the mind in control- whether it be the intruder or the person- to utilize the mental link.'_

'_You know a lot about the mind and how it interacts with the body.'_

'_My dad is both the head of the Interrogation half of the Torture and Interrogation ANBU Division and the leader of the Yamanaka clan- the clan of the mind-walkers, as we are known outside of Konoha. As such, I've been studying about every aspect of the mind since I was little, and I've been undergoing advanced studies after the talk with Kurenai-sensei. Since I'm the heiress of the clan, I have to know more than a lot of the others have to. I neglected my studies earlier in life, and my dad wasn't going to push me unless I showed dedication to it, so now I have to work harder to catch up to where I should be. It stinks, but this entire situation is my fault, so I can't complain.'_

'…_I see.' _Naruto's respect for Ino rose as a result of hearing her owning up to her duties, even after having put herself in a hole that would be far too deep for many to even attempt to get out of._ 'That's interesting and admirable. But onto the main topic…I assume you invaded Kiba to help him with the test? Because I did see you take over Sakura, whom I know for a fact had the answers, before you did your test, and after you finished, you seemed to take pity on Kiba before you entered his mind.'_

'_Yes,' _Ino admitted, _'I wanted to help him. He looked like he needed it, anyway.'_

'_Well, I don't suppose you could help me as well?'_

'_You need help?'_

'_I do. I have mental links with Kiba, Shikamaru, Shino, Hinata, and Choji, but Shikamaru is too lazy to answer the questions, Kiba and Shino can't use their animals to cheat because they don't understand written words, Choji just doesn't know the answers, and Hinata refuses to cheat. I myself do not know the answers, though I recognize a lot of the terms.'_

'_Well, in that case, the answers are…'_

And within a few minutes, the six other genin had the answers to the questions. Putting his pencil down, Naruto spoke to Ino (still in Kiba's body).

'_Thanks, Ino.'_

'_Anytime, Naruto. I have a request, though…'_

'_If it's reasonable, then I probably will do it.'_

'_Can you make a empathy link between myself and everyone else?'_

The questions stumped Naruto. He supposed it wasn't entirely out of the question. Ino's alignment, which had been the default "Light," had quickly dropped into the "Dark" realm once she started talking to Naruto and his friends. He knew that alignments and chakras were separate. If one had a Dark alignment, it meant that they had a better chance of having Dark chakra and, thus, being evil. If one had a Light alignment, it meant that they had a better chance of having Light chakra and, of course, being good. Life choices could affect your alignment; by Ino deciding to associate with them, it made her shift towards the Dark alignment.

Yet there were so many things to consider. The empathy links had come about once everybody had hit a certain experience level (fifteen, to be precise). If she truly wanted one, she would most likely have to endure the Shadow Realm. Naruto knew that Ino's techniques revolved around the mind, but that wouldn't work in the Shadow Realm.

Then there was the fact that Naruto couldn't craft an empathy link, only the randomness of the Shadow Realm could. Ino could reach level fifteen and still not get the empathy links. She could get an empathy link to a few people but not the whole group. Or she could get empathy links with everybody, but there was no telling if her version would be the same as theirs; if it was not, they wouldn't be able to tell her how to activate it.

Still, Naruto mulled over, it did have the chance of working, and since there was no harm in failing (even dying in the Shadow Realm simply meant an ejection for a period of time, with that time varying and dependent on how the person died), he decided he would give it a go. Besides, if it worked, the group would have another person on hand that had knowledge and abilities none of the current six had.

'_We'll see, Ino. To get the empathy links, the six of us had to visit a different realm, battle various creatures and beings, and gain experience. You might have to do the same in order for it to work.'_

At first, Ino was completely silent, and Naruto was sure he had stunned her speechless when he said that there was another realm to explore. But when that silence stretched, Naruto was a little worried that Ino was too scared to take that step.

'_Ino?'_

'_I'll do it.' _She said. It was obvious to Naruto that she was trying not to show her fear, but he could hear the quiver in her voice. He let it slide, though.

'_All right Ino, we'll do it as soon as the exams are over, or if we get a long enough break in between. Deal?'_

'_Deal.'_

Naruto felt her presence leave his mind, and a few moments later, Kiba's head dropped. A second later, the Inuzuka's head snapped back up, and the boy looked around bewilderedly. Naruto shook his head; knowing Kiba was back in control, he leaned back in his chair and took a gander at the rest of the room in a subtle manner.

The kunoichi next to Naruto was looking at him out of the corners of her eyes, which Naruto noted with some amusement. Elsewhere in the room, Sasuke appeared to be ready to blow a gasket as he held his head in his hands and stared at his paper, which lead Naruto to believe the Uchiha was either taking the no-cheating rule seriously or he hadn't unlocked the Sharingan in order to copy the hand movements of the chunin next to him. Kabuto had been staring at him intensely until Naruto had looked in his direction, which made the spectacle-wearing spy grin at him and wave. The Kusa genin Naruto thought to be Orochimaru, meanwhile, kept alternating his glances between Sasuke and Naruto, though Naruto had also caught him looking at several others every once in a while, most notably Hinata, Neji, and the Kumo genin. Gaara was looking directly at him, not even bothering to turn away when Naruto returned the stare. Other than that, everybody else were either writing answers, staring at their tests in frustration, or leaning back, content with their answers.

Turning his paper over, leaning back and kicking his feet up on top of the paper, Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the test to end.

* * *

><p>"All right maggots, pencils down and eyes open!" Ibiki shouted, aiming the last part directly at Shikamaru and Naruto, the only two peaceful enough (or, in Shikamaru's case, uncaring enough) to have been able to sleep. Instead of getting the desired reaction (which was anything from a sharp motion and a shout to falling out the chair), Ibiki only received two yawns as the two Konoha genin woke from their slumber.<p>

"It is time to administer the tenth and final question!"

Here, Naruto froze. _'The tenth question…wasn't on the paper…so then that means this must be the win or go home problem…Hinata knew that, that's why she didn't cheat…'_

Naruto resisted the urge to set fire to the building and refocused his attention on Ibiki.

"Before I do give the question, though, I give you the option of either backing out now or proceeding to answer." Ibiki said, which confirmed Naruto's thoughts.

"We came this far and went through nine of the questions already, why would we back out?" Kiba shouted.

Ibiki blasted killing intent on the Inuzuka, causing him to slouch back into his chair and Akamaru to whine and climb up and into Kiba's sweater.

"Maybe if I finished explaining, it would make more sense…ain't that right, maggot?" Ibiki said in a deadly whisper. Kiba whimpered in response, to which Ibiki grinned sadistically.

"As I was saying, if you choose to back out now, you and your squad will be disqualified from the Exams. However, if you choose to stay and get the question wrong, you will be banished from these Exams and all future ones!" Ibiki shouted.

While the scarred interrogator's display of killer intent had managed to subdue the room full of genin, it had no effect on the uproar of chaos and disarray that occurred once he finished the last line.

"How is that fair? There are plenty of people that have taken these Exams several times before!" The redheaded Kumo kunoichi said angrily. Ibiki grinned at her.

"Sorry girlie, but this part of the exam is under my jurisdiction. Whatever I say goes."

Now, Naruto and his friends all knew intellectually that the Chunin Exam was not the only way for one to become a chunin, because if it was, then only two genin a year would be promoted to chunin across ALL the villages (meaning that, at most, two villages would get one new chunin and all the rest would have none). But, Naruto mused, applying knowledge to a pressurized situation was different than having the general knowledge, as he saw clearly in the written portion. Thus, he saw a few things across the room that didn't surprise him.

For one, the three kunoichi of the Rookie Nine- Hinata, Ino, and Sakura- were all visibly nervous. Sakura kept glancing at her precious Uchiha, Ino was twirling her hair around one of her fingers (which was a sign, as Ino had been known to take great caution in protecting her hairstyle), and Hinata was pushing her index fingers together.

Sakura's nervousness was instantly killed off as the Uchiha gave her a poisonous glare that more or less demanded she not give up. Hinata glanced at Naruto, who gave her a thumbs-up in support. The shy Hyuuga glanced back down at the table in front of her, but Naruto could see both the flush adorning her face and the determination that appeared in her eyes. Ino actually pushed aside her own nervousness after seeing that everyone else she knew was going to go ahead with the question, which was commendable, as the other two kunoichi needed personal reassurance.

Elsewhere among the room, hands were raising and team names flying as dozens of warm bodies made their way out of the room, secure in the fact that while they had failed this Chunin Exams, another six months of training under their jonin-sensei would prepare them for the next one. As they left, some looked angrily at their teammates that had given up and disqualified the entire team; some sent the teammate understanding looks; others looked at those that chose to remain with something akin to disbelief; and still others had their heads bowed, feeling guilty that because of their personal weakness, their teammates couldn't advance. Naruto watched all of this and more as the numbers slowly dwindled- from nearly 250 competitors **(A/N: Picking a random number, sue me {please don't}) **to a round total of sixty, or exactly twenty teams.

Ibiki looked around, scanning the room to see who had stayed in the room. While unsurprised that the blond-haired kid and his team had remained (they remained largely unaffected by all of his tactics), he was slightly surprised to see all nine rookies from the Leaf still in the room, alongside the three second year (or first full-length year) genin from Konoha that were taking the exams for the first time as well. The Kazekage's children were lounging about, as well as two teams from Kumo, a few teams from Grass, a few teams from Rain, a few more from Konoha, and one from Sound.

"Are all of you really going to take the chance that you may be a genin for the rest of your life?"

"Such a drag, man. But we are shinobi, after all. If we can't sit through a simple question, then we can't say we're deserving of a more prominent role in our village's defense and overall schematics." Shikamaru said, sighing at the end. Ibiki once more scanned the room and saw that Shikamaru's explanation had bolstered anyone's faltering confidence.

"Well then…congratulations on passing the first part of the Chunin Exams!" Ibiki said with a small smirk.

There was silence for a few seconds before the inevitable, collective, and resounding "WHAT?" echoed throughout the room. Ibiki, ever noticing things, saw that some were unsurprised, such as the blond-haired genin from Konoha **(A/N: Ibiki had a list of all the competitors in the Chunin Exams, but he doesn't know what they look like)**, the Hyuuga girl, the genin that had spoken out against him a few minutes before, and the red-haired Suna genin. Even the blond, busty chick from Kumo who had remained emotionless through the entire test appeared startled.

"But what happened to the final question?" The kunoichi from Suna said.

"There never was any final question. It was a guise for a test that we needed to take. I stated that if you failed to answer correctly, you would stay a genin forever, but I also gave the choice to leave and take the next Exams. All those that left are unworthy for the spot of chunin, because as a chunin, you will be caught in situations where you either proceed with a mission without knowing what might happen, or backing off and not taking it. If you don't take it, it shows that you aren't ready for those missions, and thus not ready to be a chunin. As the genin who spoke out against me awhile ago said, if you cannot take the risk on a question, you won't be able to take that risk on a potentially important mission." Ibiki explained.

While the answer sated some people's curiosity, others were not pleased.

"So then what was the point of the first nine questions?" Sakura asked, clearly agitated that all her work had been for naught.

"It was yet another test. We made the questions difficult enough so that you couldn't answer them, unless you spend all your time reading and not training…"

Here, Ibiki looked pointedly at Sakura, who flushed deeply and looked down.

"…And we put such light penalties for cheating. The test was designed for you all to cheat, despite what we said. The catch was to cheat without making it so obvious we had to call it out. Believe me, we caught what most of you were doing, but we didn't point it out because you were cheating like ninjas. We called out those that were blatantly cheating. Again, as a chunin, you will be sent on information-gathering missions. If you can't get that information without being caught, then you will be caught and get killed, kept as prisoner, or tortured for information about your village, or you will fail the mission and show that you aren't chunin material.

"Being a chunin is no laughing matter. You have to take the job very seriously."

With that, Ibiki untied the bandana around his head, revealing his head that was marred with scars and wounds. Almost everyone flinched away from him.

"This," Ibiki said grimly, "is what happened to me when I wasn't careful enough in going about one of my missions. Again, progressing in ninja rank means you have more and more responsibilities, and they're usually dangerous. You have to be serious about moving up a rank, and you all have proven that you are."

The leader of the Torture half of the T&I Division of the ANBU then gave a very rare smile (which, sadly, only marred his features even more) before tying his bandana back around his head.

"Now," said he, his smile disappearing. "The Second Exams-"

Before Ibiki could continue, a black blur flew in the room from the side, busting through one of the front windows and sending glass shards flying through the room. Luckily, the glass didn't hurt anybody except for Sakura, who received a cut on her arm. As the blur unfurled, Naruto instantly recognized who it was that had just entered and immediately placed his head on the desk.

'_Oh no…please don't let it be her…tell me it's just a joke, or she has a message, just don't let it be her…'_

Unfortunately for Naruto, his pleas went unanswered, as the banner unrolled and displayed a person.

The banner read, "The Stunningly Sexy Proctor of the Second Exam, Anko Mitarashi!"

"Oh, dear." Naruto muttered to himself. "Did it really have to be Anko-sensei?"

* * *

><p><strong>That's a wrap on chapter 12!<strong>

**Honestly, this was a hard chapter to write. The content itself wasn't hard, it was just I was sick at one point when I wrote this. Most of the other parts were written at early points in the morning (two or three). And as I do not have a beta, nobody else but me checks over the chapters, so any and all mistakes are on me.**

**On another note, the last parts might seem vague for me, because I usually write all details about something. Yet I never described Anko or the mission Ibiki had been on when he got his scars because I don't really keep up with the manga or anime anymore so I forget. Usually I research character appearances to get everything right, but Time Warner Cable screwed up my Internet, so I can't.**

**Speaking of which, my Internet is messed up, so if you're reading this, then please consider that this chapter is a few days old and would've been out sooner. Also, I've more than likely started on the next chapter already.**

**Not much else to say, so until next time,**

**ILove out!**


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